A Love Hate Relationship
by Laemara
Summary: When Reba Hart meets Narvel Blackstock.
1. Chapter 1

Reba Hart sat back in her office chair and sighed. Finally. The work day was over. 5 open houses and enough paperwork to cut down a forest was too much for any one person, but Reba did it. That's why she was the top realtor of the firm. She smiled to herself. She had worked so hard! Figuring out her strengths and weaknesses and then improving them, learning new tricks, memorizing the systems, it was amazing to see it all finally paying off. Reba's boss had been telling her for a while now that she was the best, and she had to admit she could definitely get used to hearing that. She rolled her neck around to release the tension and stretched her arms behind her chair. She checked her watch, 5:45. Time to get home, make dinner for the kids, listen to Barbara Jean babble, settle a couple arguments, and then maybe she would be able to go to sleep before 10:30pm. Reba ran her hand through her disheveled, but brilliant, red hair and sighed again, gathered up her things, which included—wouldn't you know it?—MORE papers. And headed out of her office, locking the door behind her.  
>Reba knocked on her boss, Paul Jackson's door and put her head through. "I'm leaving now Mr. Jackson. I'm taking the rest of the paperwork home with me."<br>Her boss looked up from his desk and smiled, "Thanks Reba. You're the best."  
>Reba grinned back at him and shut his door. As she continued walking towards the elevators Reba looked down to make sure she had everything she needed, mentally checking them off in her head. "Purse, check. Folders, check. Plans for the next open house, che-" without thinking, she turned a corner sharply and ran full force into a person. The papers she was looking out flew and she stumbled back, teeter-tottering on her high heels, she would have fallen were it not for the large hands that grabbed her waist quickly and steadied her.<br>"Oh my gosh I'm so so sorry!" Reba apologized once she regained her balance. Looking up into the face of the person she had quite literally bumped into, her breath caught in her throat when she finally took a good look at the man she had hit. He appeared to be in his 40s, but well-fit, his eyes were a delicious chocolate brown, his dark brown beard accentuated his well-defined face very nicely, and his gorgeous smile positively melted her heart. "I-I-I wasn't looking and I, um," she stammered, desperetly trying not to look like a fool in front of the most handsome man she'd ever seen. Who was she kidding? She had basically thrown herself into his arms! And she probably looked a total mess. There was no way she could look any more silly.  
>The man chuckled. A low sound that made Reba's stomach flutter. "Don't worry about it." he said in a destinctive Texas accent. "You can bump into me anytime." he winked, making Reba blush like a school-girl. It was then when she noticed his hands were still around her waist, she glanced down and he released her.<br>Reba began to reach down to pick up her scattered papers, but the man said, "No no no." and picked up the papers himself. When he straightened he held the papers and her purse out to her and smiled his charming smile once again.  
>"Thank you very much." Reba smiled warmly back to him.<br>"You're welcome. But I hope this isn't how you normally, ahem, HIT on men. It could get a little dangerous."  
>Reba bit back a laugh and raised an eyebrow to him. He groaned, "Too lame, huh? I thought so."<br>Reba laughed out loud before she noticed her co-workers staring at her. She cleared her throat, "Well I've-I gotta go."  
>The man stepped out of her way and grinned at her one more time. She smiled, but walked quickly past him towards the elevators once again. Once she was out of his line of sight she breathed a sigh of relief. What a way to meet a guy. A CUTE guy. Okay, way beyond cute. She leaned on the wall of the elevator and dreamed about his laughing brown eyes.<p>

-

The man watched the redhead beauty walk away from him. Kicking himself because he didn't get a chance to ask her for her name. He watched her till she disappeared into the elevator, then shook himself. He wasn't here to woman-hunt. He had a job interview. Perhaps he could casually ask Mr. Jackson about her. He looked down to the elevators one last time before continuing to his destination. He saw a door open in front of him and a man in his late 50s or early 60s poked his gray head out of the room.  
>"Narvel Blackstock?" the older man asked.<br>"Yes sir." Narvel replied.  
>"The best realtor in Austin, Texas." the man came out smiling and shook Narvel's hand. "I'm Paul Jackson. We've been expecting you."<p> 


	2. Chapter 2

"Thank you very much Mr. Jackson," Narvel shook his hand on the way

out from his successful interview. "I know I'll enjoy working here."

"And we'll enjoy having you." Mr. Jackson smiled. "Reba Hart is our

best realtor, she works real hard, she's always gotten great reviews

from our clients, and I'm sure she'll love having you here to take

some of the load off of her. And teach her some new things. She's very

willing to learn."

Listening to Mr. Jackson gush about his employee reminded Narvel of

the secret mission he was on. "Uh, Reba, you say?"

Mr. Jackson nodded.

"She wouldn't happen to be a redhead, would she?"

"Why yes she is! Have you two met already?"

Narvel chuckled, "Briefly. We, ah, ran into each other earlier."

Mr. Jackson beamed, "She's great. I just know you'll like her."

Narvel laughed, "Ohh I have no doubt." he smiled to himself.

"...48...49...50! Ready or not, here I come!" Reba giggled, watching

Van as he looked under the tables and chairs and anywhere else he

though his young daughter would be. "I know you're here somewhere

Elizabeth!" Van crooned, going into the kitchen calling her name. Reba

felt Elizabeth squirm behind her back and she shushed her quietly.

Together they had devised a hiding place. Elizabeth scrunched herself

up into one of the corners of the couch, and Reba was leaning against

her slightly, covering her from view. Elizabeth wiggled one more time

and giggled.

"Oooh I hear you!" Van said, running back into the living room. "I'm

gonna getcha!" Elizabeth giggled again, louder this time.

Van looked at his mother-in-law strangely, Reba just looked innocently

back.

"Uh huh." Van's eyes narrowed in suspicion. "Oh Elizabeth...when daddy

finds you he's gonna tickle you and tickle you and you won't be able

to get away..." Elizabeth laughed from behind Reba.

"Ah-ha!" Van ran towards Reba, arms outstretched, ready to tickle her.

"No no no no!" Reba said laughing. She dove out of the way, exposing

Elizabeth.

"Got you!" he yelled. Elizabeth shrieked and tried to get away, but

Van had already captured her in his arms.

Reba was still laughing on the other side of the couch while Van spun

Elizabeth around in his arms.

"Okay okay," said Reba, still grinning. "Now it's bedtime. Come here

sweetheart." she held her arms out for Elizabeth.

Once Van set her down she ran over to her grandma and hugged her. Reba

held her tightly for a moment then kissed her forehead. "Night darlin."

"Night night gramma." Reba smiled as Van took her upstaires and to bed.

Those little precious moments are what make life so good.

Reba yawned. Weekends also make life good, Reba chuckled to herself.

And thank goodness the weekend had finally arrived! She was tired, and

very ready to sleep till noon. Between work, taking care of the kids,

and also smoothing out problems that arose between Brock and Barbara

Jean, she had no time to just relax and not think about anything. Reba

walked slowly up the staires with drowsy eyes, changed her clothes,

and collapsed into bed. She was asleep in an instant, and in her

dreams she continually saw a mysterious handsome man, smiling at her

with love shining in his brown eyes.

The weekend passed quickly, and Monday had arrived once again. Reba

woke up to find that she had slept through two of her alarms. She

jumped out of bed and got herself showered and ready in 15 minutes flat.

Reba ran down the staires to the kitchen where Van and Cheyanne were

already feeding Elizabeth and Jake was eating cereal.

"Woke up late, mom?" Cheyanne asked.

"Yes." Reba said shortly. She grabbed the coffee pot and poured

herself a large serving into her travel coffee mug.

Reba moved quickly around the kitchen and kissed her children goodbye,

then she nearly ran out the door and into her youngest daughter.

"Um, bye mom?" Kyra said.

Reba kissed her quickly, then walked quickly away towards her car.

"Talk to you later darlin'!" she threw over her shoulder.

Kyra shook her head and looked at her siblings. "None of you guys were

brave enough to tell her that her hair wasn't brushed?"

After going ten miles above the speed limit the whole way, Reba

reached her building. Luckily the employees had their own parking

spaces in the back, so Reba ran in rather quickly.

"Steph! Where's Mr. Jackson?" Reba asked breathlessly to the secretary

and her good friend, Stephanie Goodman.

Stephanie laughed. "You're not that late, Reba. He's in his office."

"Thanks!" Reba hurried to his door.

"Reba, you may want to fix your hair a bit before you see our boss."

Stephanie called to her, amused.

Reba stopped and ran her hands through her hair quickly before

shooting a smile back to Stephanie. Then Reba opened her boss's door

and poked her head through.

"I am so so sorry Mr. Jackson," she apologized immedietly. "I was up

really late finishing up these papers and then I slept through both of

my alarms and then-"

Paul chuckled from behind his desk. "There's really no need to worry

Reba. You're rarely late. I think I can make an exception."

Reba breathed out in relief. "Thank you, sir. I'll get to work

immedietly." she shut his door and walked up to her spacious office.

"Um, Reba wait!" she faintly heard Mr. Jackson say.

Reba opened the door and stopped dead. Her office has acquired a new

look over the weekend. It was a large office, Reba was very happy when

Mr. Jackson had allowed her to use it. It was away from all the noise

of her co-workers chatter and complaining clients, and there was

little more that she liked better than working with peace and quiet,

probably because her own house was always loud and noisy. Reba also

enjoyed keeping it well-organized and clean. However, what she saw in

front of her wasn't nearly the same office she had left just last

Friday.

Her desk had different papers and planners scattered across it, her

filing cabinets were open, and there was a boom-box in the corner

blaring, "Check Yes Or No". Reba's mouth was hanging open and she

nearly dropped all the folders she was holding. Slowly Reba turned

around to meet Mr. Jackson's nervous looking eyes.

"What," Reba said, trying to stay calm. "is all this junk doing in MY

office?"

Mr. Jackson flinched. He had a feeling that well-known temper may show

up. "Well, from now on you'll be sharing your office with a new

realtor we hired on Friday. Today's his first day." Mr. Jackson

straightened, reminding himself that he was the boss. No matter how

intimidating the fiery redhead could be. "Now I know it's a short

notice, but he's one of the best realtors and we are very lucky to

have him."

"You want me to share an office?" Reba was agast. "With a man I've

never even met? You know that I work best alone. Did you WANT a

repeat of Van and I?" Reba snapped. "And with a man who APPARENTLY

couldn't keep an office clean to save his life!" she montioned to the

scene behind her. "Really Mr. Jackson, the least you could have done

was consult me on this!"

Mr. Jackson stood his ground. "Reba, the last time I looked I was your

boss. Hiring someone is my job, not yours. Give this a chance. If you

still have complaints, we can talk about it later."

Reba almost blew up, but she breathed in deeply and turned to face the

disaster of an office. She felt her temper rise again. "Who is this

guy anyway? Hasn't he ever heard of organization? And what's with the

boom-box?" she unplugged it from the wall roughly. "What kind of

unprofessional," she tried to straighten up some of the papers on her

desk. "silly, EGOTISTICAL," she slammed her purse on the desk. "man

thinks he can come into someone's office, throw things around,

basically RANSACK it, then has the NERVE to actuall-"

Mr. Jackson cleared her throat, interupting her tantrum.

"What?" Reba turned to look at him and felt her heart drop to her

feet. There, standing right next to Mr. Jackson with an amused

expression on his face, stood the devestatingly handsome man she had

slammed into on Friday.

"Reba," Mr. Jackson said. "This is Narvel Blackstock. Your new partner."


	3. Chapter 3

Narvel stood by Mr. Jackson, laughing silently to himself as he watched his new partner unplug his radio with force, insult him multiple times, and try to straighten out the desk that he had accidently forgotten to clean up. He couldn't help it. This petite woman had one of the worst tempers he'd ever seen, but instead of it being irritating, it was...endearing.  
>He heard Mr. Jackson clear his throat next to him, but Narvel didn't take his eyes off of the angry woman.<br>"Reba, this is Narvel Blackstock. Your new partner."  
>Reba's eyes flashed for a moment, then they grew big when she took a good look at Narvel. Shock replaced her look of anger. Narvel tried to keep his face as neutral as possible, not wanting Reba to continue to be mad at him.<br>"You..." Reba whispered.  
>Narvel was happy she had remembered him, not that their encounter was exactly easy to forget. But it still made him feel good. Unable to control his grin any longer, Narvel put his hand out towards Reba, "Narvel Blackstock."<br>Reba's eyes were still rather wide, but when she saw him grin, she regained control of herself and put on a stern face. He was laughing at her. She could see his brown eyes practically dancing with mirth. Reba reached out and grasped his hand firmly, ignoring the butterflies that suddenly errupted in her stomach when their skin touched.  
>"Reba Hart." she managed to say cooly. She let go of his hand as quickly as she could. Narvel was disappointed. Finding himself wanting to find a reason to touch her again.<br>"There. Isn't that better?" Mr. Jackson smiled. Was is it him, or was he sensing some sparks between the two of them?  
>Reba glared at him. "It will be better when Mr. Blackstock here cleans up the mess he made."<br>"Right." Mr. Jackson decided that Narvel could handle the rest of her temper, and he had work of his own to do. "Narvel, if you will. I'll be in my office." Mr. Jackson left the two of them having a stare down.  
>Narvel was enthralled with Reba's blue eyes. He had never met anyone with as much sparkle and fire and emotion in their eyes as much as the woman before him did.<br>Reba was staring back, but she was also starting to feel uncomfortable under his gaze. Warm though it was, she feared she would begin melting into a puddle at this man's feet, and she didn't need him thinking she was attracted to him. Because she wasn't.  
>"Well?" she said to him. "I don't need a mess in my office Mr. Blackstock."<br>"Of course, Mrs. Hart." he began cleaning the desk with his back to her.  
>"Miss." Reba said quietly.<br>"Pardon?" Narvel turned to look at her, still with a half smile.  
>"It's just 'Miss' Hart." she repeated, not looking at him.<br>Narvel's smile grew. "I like that better." he turned away from her once again. Reba stared at his back, mouth hanging open from his forwardness, but at the same time, she found herself blushing.  
>"And isn't it *our* office now Miss Hart?" Narvel asked. He finished with the papers, stuck them in a folder, and went and sat and leaned back in the chair behind the desk—HER desk—raising his eyebrows.<br>Now Reba wanted to sock him one. Did he *like* making her angry? "Well then how about we keep *our* office clean then?" she said, making her voice as sweet as she could, while shooting daggers at him with her eyes.  
>Narvel grinned at her. Wow, was she a little firecracker or what? This was going to be fun.<br>Reba watched him as his face resumed that little smirk of his. Boy, would she like to slap that smile right off his pretty face. This was going to be horrible.

-

Reba came home that day. muttering under her breath and slamming her purse on the floor.  
>"The NERVE...*mutter mutter mutter*...so help me I will STRANGLE..."<br>"Mom?" Cheyenne heard the door shut loudly and came into the kitchen to see what was going on.  
>"Don't you start with me!" Reba yelled.<br>Cheyenne's eyebrow went up and Reba sighed.  
>"I'm sorry Cheyenne. Difficult day at the office."<br>"Well, tell me about it! Sometimes it's better to get it all out." Cheyenne sat down and leaned her elbows on the counter.  
>"Ok, well, Mr. Jackson decided to hire another realtor, and-" Reba started.<br>"That's what you're mad about? Mom, he's the boss. That's kinda his job, right?"  
>Reba glared. "Will you LET me talk?"<br>Cheyenne put her hands up. "Sorry."  
>"As I was saying, Mr. Jackson hired a new realtor. Yes that is his job, but this new realtor and I are supposed to be partners now! I don't even know the guy! And he's messy, and likes listening to music LOUDLY when he works and he is ALWAYS laughing at me for reasons that I can't tell, with that silly little half grin he has and-" Reba would have kept ranting, except Cheyenne's squeal interupted her.<br>"You're working all day long with a MAN? Is he cute?"  
>Reba put her fingers to her temples. "Have you not been listening to me? He's the most infuriating person I've ever met!"<br>"Is he cute?" Cheyenne would not let it go.  
>"Oh my." Reba realized she wasn't going to listen to anything else until she had an answer. "Yes Cheyenne I guess he is cute."<br>Cheyenne squealed again. "Oh my gosh you like him don't you?"  
>"No!" Reba nearly shouted.<br>"Ooh. Then why is your face turning all pink?" Cheyenne giggled.  
>"It's called an angry flush, Cheyenne." Reba huffed, trying to calm herself.<br>"So what does he look like?" Cheyenne was nearly hopping out of her seat with excitement.  
>"Cheyenne!" Reba was exasperated.<br>"What's with all the yelling?" Van walked in, holding Elizabeth in his arms.  
>"Mom's got a new co-worker! And he's cuuuute." Cheyenne answered excitedly.<br>"Oh yeah? Going on a hunt Mrs. HOOOOO-"  
>"Van!" Reba yelled.<br>Just then Barbara Jean walked in from the kitchen door. "Hey guys! What's with all the shouting?"  
>"Mom has this hot new co-worker that she totally likes. But she won't tell me what he looks like!" Cheyenne explained quickly.<br>"Oh my gosh you guys are insane!" Reba grabbed a bottle of water and asprin and left the kitchen in a huff.  
>They all stared at each other. "Oh she totally likes him." Barbara Jean said.<p>

Up in her room, Reba took her asprin with some water and sat on her bed with a sigh. She loved her family, but when it got that loud, she knew she had to remove herself or go crazy.  
>She thought of the reason for the arguement and scowled. Narvel. Why was he here anyway? If the whispers at the office were to be believed, he had been one of the best realtors in Austin. Did he just want to conqour a new city? Or just her office? Just to puff up his ego even more?<br>"I won't allow it." Reba vowed to herself. "I've been working too hard to be outshined by some little egotistical maniac." She knew she was getting a little over-dramatic, but this new getting a partner thing had wounded her pride, and now the fiercely competitive side of her had risen to the surface. And she wasn't going to back down just because of some handsome face.


	4. Chapter 4

When Narvel walked into his and Reba's office the next morning, he was surprised to see her there already, typing away on the computer.  
>"Good morning Mr. Blackstock." Reba said primly.<br>Narvel chuckled. "You know you can call me Narvel, right Reba?"  
>"I prefer to keep it very buisness-like, if you don't mind, Mr. Blackstock." Reba said to him firmly.<br>Narvel smirked and put his briefcase down on the floor by the door. "Is that so, Miss Hart?" Narvel made his way towards the desk she was sitting at and peered over her shoulder to see what she was doing on the computer.  
>"Yes that's...so." Reba caught a whiff of his colonge as he leaned over her shoulder and she nearly lost control of herself. Dang. That was some good smelling colonge.<br>Narvel turned his head towards Reba, their faces were now only inches apart.  
>"It's rude to look over someone's shoulder." Reba barely whispered, staring into his brown eyes.<br>Narvel's eyes crinkled at the edges as he smiled. "Pardon my manners."  
>Narvel slowly pulled far enough away that Reba could breathe again. She watched him as he went and pulled out papers from his briefcase. What was he trying to do? Hit on her? Pfft. No way was that going to happen.<br>"We have an open house today," Reba said to him, trying to get rid of the tension in the room. "and one of the couples who will be there have been looking for a house for a while. They're very picky."  
>"No problem." Narvel answered, eyes still on his paper.<br>Reba rolled her eyes. Ego? Yep. The size of Texas. "Of course not." she muttered in a sarcastic tone.  
>He turned and looked at her. "There's gotta be some way to get rid of her prejudice against me." Narvel thought to himself. He smiled brightly at her. "Well why don't we leave early and eat somewhere first?"<br>Reba looked at him suspiciously. "Are you asking me out?"  
>"Do you want me to ask you out?" he responded with a raised eyebrow.<br>Reba's mouth fell open with surprise, but before she could send him a fiery answer, he laughed. "I'm just joking Reb-Miss Hart. I just thought it would be nice to get to know each other. Since we will be working in such close quarters from now on."  
>Reba was still a little cautious. There had to be some reason he was doing this. But she supposed she would never find out if she didn't go along. So she nodded. "I suppose that will be alright. We should probably leave around 11 then. So there's time to set the house up."<br>"Sounds fine. If you'll excuse me though, I have something to discuss with Mr. Jackson." Narvel said, then he walked out. Leaving Reba even more suspicious. What could he need to talk to Mr. Jackson about?

-

"...So I've printed out some nice looking desks to choose from. What do you think?" Narvel handed Mr. Jackson the papers he was holding.  
>Narvel had been thinking about getting a new desk for his and Reba's office. Yesterday they had done somewhat of a rotation. When one of them needed the desk, the other would stand over them or leave the room until the other was finished. It was a little awkward and so Narvel decided to do a little researching when he had gotten back to his condo. He found a huge dark wooden desk that would allow two chairs to fit nicely side by side. While Reba would probably be uncomfortable, Narvel was delighted that he could have an excuse to be that close to her. For some reason Narvel felt a connection with Reba that he had never felt with anyone before. Something that made him want to be around her-<br>Narvel's thoughts were interupted by Mr. Jackson saying, "We can do that. Not too pricey, good quality. I'll order it right now."  
>Narvel grinned. "Thank you, Mr. Jackson." His boss smiled back and Narvel left to go tell Reba.<p>

"You want us sharing THAT?" Reba was borderline horrified. She did NOT want to be that close to him all day long. Sure they would still have enough room to move around and stuff, but, well, she just didn't like it!  
>"It's a good price, it'll fit in the room perfectly, and come on now Miss Hart, do you really want to continue this changing of the desk seat we have going on?"<br>Reba huffed for a moment, then thought about it. "Why don't we get two seperate desks?"  
>"It's almost twice as expensive," Narvel shook his head. "Mr. Jackson is doing this as a favor for me."<br>Reba frowned. "When did you two get all buddy-buddy?"  
>"That's not really your buisness, Miss Hart, with all due respect." Narvel was becoming exasperated.<br>"If we're partners, it is my buisness!" Reba snapped back.  
>Narvel saw the fire in her eyes and backed down. He didn't want to fight with her. "He just wants the two of us to work well together. And I told him about the desk situation and he decided it was fine to make that kind of purchase. Satisfied?"<br>Reba was disappointed. She wanted a fight. Just to prove that she and Narvel wouldn't work out and she could go back to work the way she had before. Before this smirking, know-it-all Mr. Blackstock came in the picture. "Fine." Reba lowered her head down to look at the picture of the desk again. "When will it come in?"  
>Narvel breathed a sigh of relief. He wasn't sure she would back down so easily. "Mr. Jackson will be getting the quick delivery, so tomorrow or the day after more than likely."<br>Reba nodded and handed the picture back to Narvel. He took it and checked his watch. "We might as well leave now."  
>Reba looked at the clock on the wall, "But it's only 10:15!" she protested.<br>"Good. Just enough time for a nice, long lunch." Narvel grinned.


	5. Chapter 5

"I insist."  
>"Well I insist the opposite."<br>"I'm trying to be a gentleman!"  
>"And *I'm* trying to be the independent woman that I am!"<br>"How does refusing a car ride when we're going to the SAME PLACE make you independent?"  
>"Because it does!"<br>Narvel rolled his eyes, standing between Reba and her car door. After convincing her to actually quit working and leave for lunch early, he was trying to offer her a ride to the resturant so she didn't have to drive, and here she was, arguing with him. Again.  
>"Think of it this way," he tried again. "You'll be saving on gas. You know how expensive that is."<br>Reba hesitated, and Narvel took advantage of the pause. "Plus the lunch might not be as long, cause we'll be able to talk in the car."  
>Reba hestitated again, but decided the shorter lunch would be worth it. "Fine."<br>Narvel smiled slightly. "This way." he put his hand on the small of her back, creating shivers that traveled up and down her spine, and led her to his black SUV. Narvel opened the door for her and she stepped in. As Narvel was walking around the back of the car to get to his own door, Reba thought to herself, "Darn. Another argument thwarted. Why won't he argue with me properly? Instead he gives his argument calmly and logically. Guess I'm not used to people arguing with me rationally." she smiled a little to herself.  
>Narvel got in his car and saw Reba's smile. He didn't know what caused it, but it made him happy. He stopped himself from staring and turned on the car.<br>"So," Narvel started as he pulled out of the parking lot. "Tell me about youself."  
>"What do you want to know?"<br>"Well, how long have you been working for Mr. Jackson? Do you have family? How long have you lived in Houston?" He wanted to know pretty much everything about this irresistable woman.  
>"Wow. Um, well, I've been working here for about a year, maybe a little more. I do have family, three children, a son-in-law, a grandchild, and an ex-husband. I-"<br>Narvel stopped the car abruptly at a red light, jolting Reba from her seat.  
>"I'm sorry," Narvel apologized, looking intently at Reba. "Did you say a grandchild?"<br>Reba nodded.  
>"You're a grandma?" Narvel couldn't believe it. No way was this beautiful, vibrant woman old enough to be a grandmother!<br>Reba blushed. "Yes I am. My oldest daughter got pregnant when she was 17."  
>Narvel stared at her, not noticing the green light until he heard cars honking. "Oh." he let go of the brakes and began driving again.<br>Reba stifled a giggle at his shock. "And to answer your last question, I moved to Houston when I got married. So about 25 years ago."  
>"And you lived in Oklahoma before, am I right?"<br>Reba looked at him in surprise.  
>Narvel glanced at her and grinned. "Your accent gives you away."<br>Reba chuckled. "Yeah I s'pose it ain't real subtle, huh?" laying her natural accent on thick.  
>Narvel smiled. Finally. A real conversation. This is what he had been wanting ever since their, uh, rough beginning.<br>"What about you, Narvel?"  
>Narvel started. She called him by his name. How lovely that sounded coming from her.<br>Reba blushed again. That kinda came out unintentionally. She scrambled around, thinking of an excuse. "Well we're not doing buisness per say right now. So we can call each other by our first names."  
>Narvel's smile was huge. "So I'm allowed to call you Reba right now?"<br>Reba rolled her eyes at his excitment. "Don't get too used to it."  
>"Whatever you say...Reba." The way Narvel said her name gave her butterflies. But she pushed those feelings away.<br>"Where are we going?" she asked.  
>"Oh just a little resturant someone recommended."<br>Reba nodded and dropped the subject. Narvel was glad. He had thought about taking her to a more romantic resturant as a surprise, but he wasn't sure how she would take it. Reba really had caught his attention, and he wanted her to like him more than he had ever wanted anything, but he definitely didn't want to push her. So he decided to take a different approach with her then he would normally take with a woman. A more subtle way. He was going to take her to a simple little diner.  
>They drove in silence for a little while, Narvel was thinking about things he could say to make Reba open up to him, and Reba was trying to figure out where he was taking her. Finally Reba's curiousity overwhelmed her.<br>"Ok, where in the world are we going?"  
>Narvel turned on his right blinker. "Here we are!"<br>Reba's eyebrows shot up and she cocked her head to the side. "We're going to eat...burgers?"  
>"Mhmm! Hope you have a real good appetite!" he winked and got out of his seat, rushing to her side to open her door and help her out of the car. When he opened the black car door he saw she was smiling. Not just a shy little grin, but a real, happy, humor-filled smile. And it took his breath away.<br>"I definitely have a real appetite. Bet you couldn't match it." she teased, taking his hand an stepping out of the car. Narvel wanted to hold onto it forever, but he figured she wouldn't appreciate that, so he let her hand fall to her side.  
>"But," she continued. "We're a tad overdressed." she looked down at her black pencil skirt and green blouse.<br>Narvel almost told her how gorgeous she looked, but restrained himself just in time. "Don't worry. There are always people who will be weirder than you, no matter where you are."  
>Reba laughed, which made Narvel extremely ecstatic, knowing he had caused it. She had a very infectious laugh, and he wanted to hear it again and again. They walked side by side into the resturant.<br>"Well Narvel," Reba said after they had sat down. "You asked about me and I answered. But what about you? Why did you come to Houston? Do you have family around here?"  
>"Well my wife and I divorced a little over 10 monthes ago, and I felt as though...my life there was pretty much finished. It was time to move on. You know?"<br>Reba nodded, immediately feeling a connection with him. "Kinda like it was just a memory that you had to get past?"  
>"Yeah." Narvel's eyes met Reba's and they shared a long, understanding look, before the waitress came over to the table.<br>She was young, blonde and busty, just the kind of girl most men get in trouble with. She took a long, appreciative glance at Narvel before saying, "Hey there, I'm Veronica. What can I get y'all?" she flashed a brilliant smile to Narvel.  
>Narvel smiled his charming half-smile to her before looking back at Reba. "What would you like, Reba?"<br>Reba, in the meantime, was glaring at the waitress. Veronica. What a snobby name. Reba turned her gaze to Narvel when she heard her name. "I'll take the loaded burger with no mustard or pickles, a medium sweet tea, and a side of fries." Reba gave the waitress a fake smile and handed her the menu.  
>Narvel was laughing at her. "I'm so glad you're not one of those women who get itty-bitty salads and waters. I hate watching them eat those little things."<br>Reba grinned back. "I told ya."  
>Narvel and Reba shared another smile before Veronica leaned on their table, blocking Reba from Narvel's view. Reba glared at her back.<br>"And you, honey?"  
>"Oh," Narvel looked down at his menu. "I'll get the same thing, but with pickles."<br>"No problem. Everything will be out shortly." She smiled at them both, her eyes lingering on Narvel again. Then she was gone.  
>"Geez. Service has no manners anymore." Reba muttered.<br>"She seemed pretty nice." Narvel said, looking to where she had disappeared.  
>Reba glared at him, he put his hands up. "I mean, what a brat."<br>Reba tried to stop her smile but couldn't help it. "That's better."  
>The rest of the lunch was great. They talked, laughed, teased, it felt like a date. A great date. The kind that you would go and rave about to your friends. And neither wanted it to end.<br>Alas, the happy moment was abruptly interupted much too soon. Reba was laughing at something Narvel said when she happened to glance up and saw the clock on the wall. It read 12:30.  
>Reba jumped out of her seat and looked at Narvel in horror, "Narvel! The open house is in a half an hour!"<p> 


	6. Chapter 6

The entire car ride to the house was silent. Narvel wanted a conversation like the ones had been having at the diner, but eveytime he was about to say something, he stopped himself. Narvel sensed that Reba was deep in thought, and the last thing he wanted was her snapping at him. He liked her. A lot. Even more so then when they first met. He really didn't want to pressure her, because he feared if he did one little thing wrong, he would be on her bad side again.

Reba, in the meantime, was wrestling with herself. How could she let the time get away like that? She was always the professional one. And Narvel was here to take her place, she was sure of it. She had to be working harder then ever, not squandering away the time with the enemy! Reba's mood became darker because of her confusing thoughts. By the time Narvel pulled into the driveway of the house, Reba was ready to blow a fuse.

Reba hopped out of the car before Narvel had even turned it off. She walked quickly to the door, eager to get to work and forget about her conflicting thoughts, before remembering that Narvel had the key. She groaned in frustration and impatiently waited as Narvel slowly made his way to her.

He took out the key and went to unlock the door, but paused and turned to Reba. "Why are you so angry with me, Reba?"

"I'm not angry with you, Mr. Blackstock." Which was partly true, she was more mad at herself. "I just want to get in so we can start our work."

Narvel turned to the door quickly before she could see his dismay. It was back to Mr. Blackstock. Back to "Mr. Blackstock" and that cold tone that he disliked so much. He was tired of this already. He didn't know what he had done to make her so upset with him, but he was not going to keep taking it. If she only wanted to work, then that's exactly what he would do.

"Very well, Ms. Hart," Narvel put the key in the lock and turned it, then opening the door he gave her a polite smile and ushered her in. "Let's get to work."

-

When Reba came home that day, she immediately she crashed on the couch. She felt both emotionally and physically drained.

The kitchen door slammed. "Reba?"

Reba groaned. "What do you want Barbara Jean?" Reba put her hand over her eyes and sighed. So much for resting.

"Hey buddy!" Barbara Jean picked up Reba's feet, sat down, and put Reba's feet back on her own lap. "How was work?"

"Horrible. Awful. Terrible. Do I need to go on?"

"Really? But you looked pretty happy when I saw-" Barbara Jean stopped herself.

Reba uncovered her eyes and stared at Barbara Jean. "Saw what?"

"Oh nothing." Barbara Jean tried to change the subject. "Oh, so today I gave Henry some potato chips, and the kid thought it was heaven. I was literally wrestling with him on the ground to get them bac-"

Reba interupted her babble with a firm, "Barbara Jean."

She started picking at a loose thread on the couch. "Yes, Reba?"

"Were you spying on me today?"

Barbara Jean paused and put on her lying face. "Nooooooooo..."

"Barbara Jean!" Reba stood up and put her hand on her hips.

"Well! You wouldn't tell me anything about your new partner so I had to find out for myself!" Barbara Jean pouted.

"I don't like talking about him! You know what he did today? He took me to lunch!"

Barbara Jean cocked her head to the side, "What a crime." she said sarcastically.

Reba, however, was too upset to notice. "Then he sold the house! In only one hour! Can you believe that? I have been trying to sell this house for a long time and he just shows up and sells it on his first day!"

"Sounds like he's doing his job..." Barbara Jean muttered under her breath.

"Not only does he sell it, he sells it to one of the most picky, rude couples I've ever met!" Reba went on with her rant, pacing as she spoke. "And the only reason he sold it is cause he's so gosh darn good looking! He had the woman fawning all over him! He could have told her the house was on sale for a million dollars and she would have bought it, just because Narvel recommended it to her!"

"Oh so his name is Narvel?" Barbara Jean asked.

Reba looked at her like she was crazy. "Is that really all you have to say?"

"Well Reba, I see no point in agreeing or disagreeing with you. You're obviously going to hate this man simply because you feel threatened."

Reba was shocked by Barbara Jean's perception. "That is not true." she lied.

"Oh yeah it is! I know you Reba. And when I was follo-I mean, when I stumbled upon the diner that you happened to be at," Reba rolled her eyes. "I could tell you really liked him, all the way up until you started thinking about work."

"I don't like him, Barbara Jean!"

"Oh yes you dooooooo!" Barbara Jean stood up and went over to where Reba was standing with her arms crossed. "You think he's good looking, nice, and smart. You. Like. Him." Barbara Jean tapped Reba's nose with the last three words.

Reba glared at her, "I will hurt you."

Barbara Jean backed away. "Ok fine, be stubborn. But I'm telling you, you're going to miss a great catch! Narvel is definitely a hunk. And your clock's tickin'! Tick, tock. Tick-ahhh!" Barbara Jean ran out the front door as soon as she saw Reba walking toward her with a book in her hand.

Reba nodded in satisfaction in the direction that Barbara Jean left and looked down at the book she had picked up. One of her favorite romance novels, "Pride and Prejudice."

Reba stared at the title in surprise. "Shoot." Reba said to herself, she looked up to the ceiling. "I guess You're trying to tell me something, huh?" She sighed.

-  
>After getting back to his quiet condo, Narvel immediately set his briefcase down and flopped onto his couch. What a day. Narvel closed his eyes and pictured Reba laughing with him from across the table. Her beautiful blue eyes were looking at him sweetly, she tucked her brilliant red hair behind her ear and raised one of her eyebrows as she teased him. Narvel sighed. She was so gorgeous. He had never been this crazy over someone. Not even Lisa would fill his thoughts as often as they were filled with Reba. And Narvel had believed himself to be in love with Lisa. Sure they had their rough patches during their marriage, but Narvel was a firm believer that if you both truly love each other, you can find a way to work anything out. Him and Lisa just weren't right for each other. Their fights got more frequent, their arguments became louder, and when Lisa had finally brought up the idea of divorce, while Narvel was shocked and a little hurt that she had actually suggested it, he couldn't deny that it seemed to be the right thing to do. After it was final, not being able to fully come to grips with the fact that there was no more "Lisa and I", Narvel decided it was time to leave. He didn't have children,—Lisa always thought they would get in the way of their relationship. Ironic, right?—he knew many real estate firms would love to have him no matter where he went, and he just wanted to get away. All of his family lived near Houston, so he decided it would be the ideal place to move to. He never expected to find another love like his and Lisa's again. But then Reba came along. Narvel sighed. He didn't want another one-sided relationship. To find out your love for someone isn't returned, that hurts worse than most anything. But he didn't know what to do. Reba was clearly set on despising him, and if he didn't know the reason for her hatred, how could he fix it? Maybe he just needed to forget pursuing Reba at all. She probably had tons of men waiting in line to get a date with her. Maybe he should just let them be buisness partners, the way Reba wanted. If that was what would make her happy, so be it.<p> 


	7. Chapter 7

The next couple of days went by with little talk between Narvel and

Reba. Narvel was trying to stop thinking about Reba and focus on his

job, and Reba was working to get over her pride and apologize.

But finally Friday morning came and Reba woke up with a strange mix of

feelings. Dread, anxiousness, and some relief. She had stayed up late

finishing "Pride and Prejudice" and thinking about her issues with

Narvel. Barbara Jean was partly right, much as she hated to admit it.

She was feeling threatened by Narvel. Reba knew that it was silly

pride that was getting in the way of having a good relationship with

Narvel. Whether it was a buisness relationship, a friendship, or a

love relationship, it wasn't going to get anywhere if she refused to

get to know him. After having lunch with Narvel and getting to know

him better, she found herself leaning towards the last option. But she

didn't want to jump the gun. She just wanted a clean start with

Narvel. And she knew she had to act now before the work week was over.

She was going to have to do one of the hardest things to begin,

apologize.

After taking a long shower to sort out her thoughts, Reba stood in her

closet with her bathrobe on, debating over outfits.

"No...no..." she was muttering, holding up different skirts and

blouses. "Why did I even buy this?" Reba was getting frustrated. She

wanted to look nice, but still professional. Oh who was she kidding.

She wanted to wear something that would grab Narvel's attention.

There. She admitted it. Reba sighed loudly for the upteenth time when

Cheyenne made an appearence outside the closet.

"Mom?" Cheyenne walked in and smirked, noticing Reba's nervousness.

Not just any nervousness, it was *guy* nervousness. Cheyenne could

spot it a mile away. "Need some help?"

"Cheyenne, I am a grown woman. I don't need fashion advice from my-"

Cheyenne raised her eyebrow.

Reba sighed again. "Fine. I need help." she said grumpily.

"This is for the yummy co-worker, right?" Cheyenne said excitedly.

"Cheyenne!" Reba's face turned a little pink. "Yeah I guess. But don't

call him that!"

Cheyenne squealed. "Yes!" she got to work immediately. "Ok you should

try putting this with this skirt, it'll bring out your eyes. No. Put

that skirt away. Why did you even buy that? Now let's see here..."

Reba sat in her car, trying to work up the nerve to get out and face

Narvel again. She had been so rude to him. Unbelievably rude. More

rude than she had ever been in her life! The man bought her lunch,

tried in every way to get along with her, and she blew him off

eveytime. Reba was so ashamed of herself. She didn't know how to face

him! She wouldn't be surprised if he refused to accept her apology. If

she was in his shoes, she probably wouldn't even listen! Finally, as

Reba was steeling herself up for the encounter and about to step out

of her car, there was a knock on her door. Reba looked up, startled,

right into Narvel's face.

"You ok?" Narvel asked, his voice was muffled, but his brown eyes

clearly showed concern.

Reba gave him a weak smile. This man had impeccable timing. "I'm

fine." she reached out to the handle to open the door, but Narvel

quickly opened it himself.

"Uh, thanks." She said as she stepped out. Goodness gracious. Why was

she acting so awkward? She grabbed her briefcase and walked quickly to

the building. She just couldn't bring herself to do it yet.

Narvel followed her slowly. He was a bit confused. Just yesterday she

was cold and distant, now she was avoiding him altogether. What was

wrong with him? Why did she hate him so much? What did he do? How

could he undo it? Narvel shook his head to get away from those

thoughts. He had already decided to give up on trying to make Reba

like him and he had to stick to that promise in order to stay sane. No

matter how stunning she looked in that turquise colored top.

"Unbelievably stunning." he thought as he walked behind the redhead.

The day went on quietly. Today was an all paperwork day. "Figures,"

Reba thought. "Today would be the day when he and I have to stay in

the same room all day long." Reba didn't know how to begin her

apology. She felt so terrible. Reba started mindlessly tapping her pen

against the desk in agitation, staring right through the papers in

front of her. She had to do it soon. She couldn't take much more of

the awful silence.

Narvel looked up from the contract he was studying and watched her

with an amused expression.

Finally Reba noticed his stare. Her pen stopped tapping and she gazed

back at him questioningly.

"And you think my radio is annoying?" Narvel teased.

Reba blushed, but smiled her first real smile all day. "Of course."

she answered, holding her head up high.

Narvel grinned. "So you tapping your pen, without any rhythm, I might

add, is perfectly alright," Reba pretended to be offended. "but my

radio makes me unprofessional, disorganized, egotistical and let's not

forget-"

"I'm sorry, ok!" Reba burst out.

Narvel was startled, he had just been teasing.

Reba knew she couldn't stop now, it had to come out eventually. So she

took a breath and went on. "I'm so sorry. I've been rude, prideful,

and just in every way a horrible person to you. I know you probably

don't even want to work with me anymore but I just had to tell you

that I'm just so so sorry." Reba finished. She looked down miserably,

unable to look at Narvel in the eye.

Narvel was stunned. He had never expected this. "Well," he said

slowly. "I did wonder what I had done to make you so-"

"Oh it was nothing you did!" Reba looked up and interupted him again.

"Trust me. I was just being stupid. And I will always be sorry for

that."

Narvel's eyebrows went up. She actually admitted she was wrong. Lisa

never would have done that. He smiled broadly. This is what he had

been wanting for, well, it felt like forever! "Ms. Hart, you were

forgiven from the very first time we met."

Reba looked at him in disbelief for a moment, then laughed in amazment

and relief. "You really forgive me?"

Narvel stood. "On one condition," he looked into her eyes and Reba's

expression became serious again. But then Narvel smiled. "We call each

other by our first names." Narvel held out his hand for her to shake.

Reba laughed again. All her worry drained out of her. She reached up

and grasped his hand. "Deal." Reba looked into Narvel's eyes and smiled.


	8. Chapter 8

After her discussion Narvel, Reba felt light as a feather. "Deciding not to hate someone sure takes a load off your shoulders." Reba thought, smiling to herself. She and Narvel worked happily together for the rest of the day. They talked a lot while they worked, and Reba found herself wanting to know more and more about him.

At the end of the day, Narvel was finishing up his filing and Reba was cleaning her desk when she realized something.

"Narvel," she started. "Why hasn't the new desk arrived yet?"

"Oh," Narvel paused his work. "You know I forgot all about it. I'll call them later tonight."

Reba nodded. "Alright. What about chairs? Have you bought us any yet?"

Narvel put the last folder in it's place before turning to answer her. "Nope. In fact, I was hoping you could help me choose them. We could go chair shopping together on Monday." he smiled that heart-melting smile.

Reba tried to control her grin. "You're always so eager to drop all our work to do any little thing."

"Hey it's part of our job! Without a comfortable chair, how are we supposed to get any of this lousy paperwork done?" Narvel insisted, his face earnest.

Reba laughed. "You're just lazy. Admit it."

"Nope."

"Oh come on, you know you are."

"Nuh-uh."

Reba giggled at his insistance. He was so cute. Reba was about to give him a witty reply, but she happened to glance at the clock and was startled at how quickly the time went. She was supposed to leave a half an hour ago!

"Oh gosh, I've got to go." she picked up her purse and briefcase. "I have kids to take care of."

"I still can't believe you're a grandma." Narvel remarked, watching her.

Reba turned a little pink. "Yeah, well, thanks." she walked over to the door, turned, and gave Narvel a lingering smile. "I'll see you Monday."

Narvel smiled back at her. "See you then, partner."

Reba smiled bigger and left.

Narvel watched her go, shaking his head in unbelief. What could have caused such a turn around? Narvel glanced upwards. There was only one person who could have done that. "Thank You." he said.

Narvel picked up his things and slowly made his way out. Was there a chance for a romantic relationship with her now? Narvel thought he had let go of that dream. But he supposed it hadn't really gone away, it was just put in a hidden corner in the back of his mind. But now he wanted to pursue her more then ever. Take her on a real date, learn more about her, meet her family. He wanted to be with her. Simple as that. Only thing was, how could he tell if she liked him back?

"Bye, Narvel!" he heard a female voice call out before he made it to the elevators. Narvel turned and saw the secretary, Stephanie, waving to him. Narvel smiled and waved back before facing the elevators once again. On the way down, it hit him. He saw Reba and Stephanie eat lunch a couple times together, and they would be talking all the time to each other when they weren't working. He could just ask Stephanie! She and him got along really well. Surely she would tell him if he had a chance with Reba or not. Narvel walked out of the building smiling. He couldn't wait till Monday.

...

Reba came home that day with a big grin on her face, and Cheyenne was waiting for her. Reba had barely just hung up her purse and set her briefcase on the counter when Cheyenne came bounding up from the living room.

"Hey moooommm." Cheyenne said slyly. She saw Reba's smile and squealed. "He said he loved your outfit, didn't he? Did he ask you out?"

"No and no, Cheyenne." Reba answered, getting meat out from the fridge.

"But I'll bet he couldn't keep his eyes off of you, right?"

"No. Well...not that I noticed." Reba chuckled a little bit.

Cheyenne's excitment died. She felt deflated. "Well why are you all happy and smiley now?"

"Hmm? Oh, no reason." Reba smiled again as she washed her hands.

Cheyenne rolled her eyes and pouted. "So not fair. I thought for sure you'd at least get a date." she said, leaving the kitchen. Reba chuckled again and began preparing dinner when Jake walked in.

"Hey mom."

"Jake! Come here." Reba held out her arms and made her way towards him. "I haven't see you all day!"

Jake's eyes widened. "Someone's in a good mood." he became enveloped in her mother's embrace and his voice was muffled when he asked, "Does this have something to do with your HHHHHOT new co-worker?"

Reba pulled back to look at Jake's face. "You hang out with Van too much." she fussed over his hair for a moment, kissed him on the forehead, then shooed him out of the kitchen.

Jake walked away shaking his head. He hadn't seen his mom this giddy since...well, he couldn't even remember!

"I'm making chili!" Reba called to him on his way out.

"Yay!" Jake ran away to go tell Van.

As Reba was leaving the chili to simmer, Barbara Jean barged into the kitchen, Brock following close behind her.

"Soooooo?" Barbara Jean asked in the same tone that Cheyenne had earlier.

"Sooooo what?" Reba pretended to be busy with the chili.

"Oh don't play dumb with me! I invented that game." Barbara Jean exclaimed.

Reba bit her tounge and shook her head. The things this woman says.

"You know! Narrvvveeelll." Barbara Jean said, drawing out his name dramatically.

"What about him?" Reba turned to face them.

"Yeah Reba, what's this I've been hearing about a "cute" co-worker?" Brock asked.

"Nothing."

"Nothing always means something!" Barbara Jean insisted. "And he's not just cute, he's hot!" Barbara Jean saw Brock's pointed look. "Oh, not as hot as you, honey."

Brock grunted. "Well, I'd like to know who my kids will be hanging around."

"We're not dating!" Reba protested.

"Yet!" Barbara Jean said. "Not dating YET."

Reba rolled her eyes. "Believe whatever you want Barbara Jean."

"Oh I know when my bestest best friend is crushin'." Barbara Jean said knowingly. "And YOU, my bestest best friend, are crushin' BAAAADDDD."

Reba blushed, but turned back to her chili before they could see. "Do y'all want to stay for dinner?" she changed the subject quickly.

That night, before she went to sleep, Reba sighed happily. What a great day. She couldn't wait till Monday.

...

Sunday morning Reba woke up early for church. As she got ready her thoughts strayed to Narvel, as they often did these days. "I wonder if he's found a church to go to." He had already told her that he had become a Christian at a young age. But the craziness of getting everyone ready for church didn't allow her to dwell on that thought.

"Mom, I can't find my shoes!" Jake yelled from upstairs.

"That's cause they're down here, Jake! Now move it!" Reba was fixing Elizabeth's hair while Cheyenne got ready. "There you go darlin'." Reba finished and turned Elizabeth around to face her. "Adorable." she kissed Elizabeth's cheek and smiled. Then she turned to yell at her kids again.

"Cheyenne, Van, Jake!" They all came running down the stairs. "That's better." said Reba. She went over and inspected them carefully. "Good. Jake, get your shoes on quickly, Van, go get the car started, Cheyenne, grab your daughter and let's go." The kids dispersed to do their jobs. Reba sighed, it always seemed harder to get out of the house on time on Sundays then any other day. But Sunday was strictly family day, which Reba always loved, and any hassle is worth it to be with her family.

...

Monday morning Reba hopped out of bed, refreshed and ready for work. She decided to not enlist Cheyenne's help with her outfit this time, but she still wanted to look nice. She put on a v-necked white, three-quarter-sleeve shirt on with her black dress pants and black jacket. Then she flipped her hair out in it's usual hairstyle and looked in the mirror. She thought she looked pretty decent. "Wow," Reba chuckled at herself. "I can't rememer the last time I actually dressed myself for someone in particular." She smiled. It was exciting, having these feelings of butterflies in her stomach when she thought of Narvel. She didn't know how she had attached herself to him so quickly. Even with Brock, those feelings—while there were definitely there—hadn't been so sudden. Normally it came on more gradually. But with Narvel, it just kind of happened. She couldn't explain it. But she couldn't wait to see him, talk to him, and just be around him again.


	9. Chapter 9

Narvel arrived at work early on Monday. He wanted a chance to talk with Stephanie before Reba came in. He made his way quickly into the building and up the elevator, and there she was. Narvel smiled and greeted her.

"Morning, Narvel." Stephanie replied, smiling. Narvel was by far the best-looking man working this floor. She watched Narvel as he walked up to her. Scratch that, the best looking man in the entire building. She told Reba just as much, but Reba scoffed and went off again on how annoying he was. Stephanie figured since Reba didn't like him, he was fair game.

-

Reba looked in the side mirror for one last check before leaving her car. Even Kyra said she looked nice this morning, so she must still have some fashion sense. Reba scanned the parking lot and spotted Narvel's black SUV. She smiled and walked quickly into the building.

-

"How are you, Narvel?" Steph asked coyly, leaning closer to him.

"Excellent, thank you." Narvel answered. "So Stephanie, I have a question for you. It's kind of personal, so just tell me if I'm stepping out of place here."

Stephanie's eyebrows rose. He was going to ask her on a date already? Not that she was complaining. "You can ask me anything Narvel." she said sweetly.

Narvel smiled and leaned closer to her. "So, well, uh..." Narvel started to lose his nerve. What would happen if Stephanie said Reba didn't like him like that at all? He had to try. "So say there's this lady in the building, possibly on this floor,"

Stephanie leaned toward him in anticipation.

"She could also possibly be a good friend of yours. And say I wanted to know if she would like to go on a date with me sometime in the future. Would you be able to find out for me if she would be ok with that?" Narvel continued nervously.

Stephanie smiled. Victory! She didn't even have to flirt very hard! Stephanie opened her mouth to answer when Reba entered the building, walking quicky up to Stephanie and Narvel.

"Good morning, Steph." she said, more brightly then usual. "Morning, Narvel." she said a little more shyly. Then Reba noticed how close they were to each other. Her eyes clouded with confusion. "Did I interrupt something?"

"No not at all!" Narvel said quickly. "Come on, Reba. We should get things done quickly so we can go get those seats." he started off for their office.

Reba looked quizzically at Stephanie and she grinned back.

"He asked me out!"

Reba felt like all the wind had been knocked out of her. "What?" she whispered.

"Yeah! He was being all cute about it too. Saying how I'm "pretty good friends" with this girl he wants to ask out, but you know what that always means." Steph winked.

Reba blinked rapidly. Why did it feel like the world had just crashed all around her? It wasn't like she expected Narvel was going to ask her out or anything. After how rude she had been to him, he would have to be blind, deaf, and dumb to ask her out. Of course. Duh. He'd never like her like that.

"Don't look at me like that. I didn't flirt hardly at all! And I know you don't like him, but he's hot!"

Reba stretched her lips into a fake smile. "Congratulations! You'll have to tell me how it goes. I-I'd better go." Reba walked away, blinking back tears.

"Stupid stupid stupid, Reba. Why did you get your hopes up like that?" she thought to herself. "How am I supposed to work with him now?" Then she answered her own question. "I'll act completely normal. He doesn't need to think that I'm some desperate woman who just wants a man. Our partnership will just have to remain the same." She decided firmly. Wiping away any leftover tears, she straightened herself and opened the door to her office.

Narvel was already at the desk, taking out papers from it. He looked at Reba closely as she came in. "Are you alright, Reba?" he asked, concerned. She looked upset.

"Oh sure." Reba gave him an empty smile that didn't touch her eyes. "I just didn't get too much sleep last night."

Narvel looked like he wanted to ask more questions, but much to Reba's relief, the phone rang. Narvel answered it quicky. He talked for a moment, and a big smile lit up his face. Reba stared at him for a moment. Yow. Was he was good-looking or what?

"Thanks!" Narvel hung up and turned his smile to Reba. "The desk is here! I've cleaned out our old one, so they're going to take it out and put the new one in in just a couple of minutes. We can't do anything, so we might as well go on our shopping trip, right?" He was so excited, Reba couldn't help but laugh a little bit.

"Sure." she answered.

Narvel came over to Reba and took her briefcase from her. He set it down on the floor, put his hand on Reba's elbow and steered her out. "We'd better go before you change your mind." he said teasingly.

Reba was very aware of his hand on her arm, but she laughed and let him gentley push her to the elevators. When they passed Stephanie, Reba's smile dropped from her face. She shook off Narvel's grip and hurried towards the elevator. Narvel was confused, but he followed her quickly, eager to be alone with her.

"Reba," Narvel called to her. "Wait up."

Reba slowed down a little bit.

"I thought I was the one excited for this trip." Narvel said.

Reba cracked a smile, but she looked back at where Stephanie was. Man, this was harder than she thought. The elevators dinged, and the two of them stepped inside.

"So how would you like a lift to the store?" Narvel continued to carry on the conversation. "No sense in taking two cars to the same place."

Reba really didn't want to be close to him longer then she had to. It would just increase the pain she was feeling. "I'll be alright." she managed to say, she could feel the lump in her throat.

Narvel looked at her, puzzled. Didn't they already get over this? "Reba, I still know that you're an independent woman. If that's what this is abo-"

Reba interrupted him. "It's not that. I was being silly when I said that." she gave him a strained smiled as they got out of the elevators and into the parking lot. "I would just...rather be alone for a little bit. Like I said, I'm a little tired."

Narvel could see there was something bothering her, but he decided to back off. "Ok. I'll follow you then." he left her to go his car.

Reba got in her car quickly and shut her door. She closed her eyes an leaned back, feeling the hot prickle of tears against her eyelids.

"Why?" she whispered. "Why did I have to be so stupid?"

Reba took a deep breath to calm herself. "Well," she thought to herself. "I may have messed up anything we could have had together romantically, but I won't ruin having a friendship with him." she started her car and drove out of the parking lot, making sure Narvel was behind her.

The whole way to the store was one big pep talk from Reba to Reba. "You can just be friends with him. You can! It's better then not seeing him at all. Isn't it? Of course it is. You'll act totally normal. It may not be easy, but what has been easy in your life? You can do this." Reba nodded firmly.

"I can do this." she said quietly before getting out of her car. She turned around to face Narvel.

"You ready?" Reba smiled at him.

Narvel was surprised, but he smiled back, relieved that they weren't back to square one. "I've been ready for a while." he winked.

"Ohhh boy," thought Reba. "There's that gosh darn charm of his."

They walked into the furniture store side by side.

"Over here are the seats." Reba started towards a section full of couches, love seats, office chairs, wooden chairs, and pretty much any other kind of seat you could think of.

Narvel moved past her and collapsed on a brown leather love seat.

"Oh yeah." he groaned and relaxed in the seat. "This is it."

Reba laughed. "Narvel, that is NOT a chair for an office. That won't even fit behind the desk!"

"We can make it fit!" Narvel protested.

Reba shook her head, grinning. "You're impossible, you know that?"

"I have been told that a couple times in my life." Narvel answered, closing his eyes and leaning back into the seat.

Reba bit back another laugh. Narvel opened his eyes and said in his best Darth Vadar impression, "Come. Join the dark side. It's comfortable."

Reba shushed him and started looking around, making sure people weren't staring. Luckily, there was hardly anyone in the store. "You're loud!" she told him, trying not to laugh.

"You know you want to." Narvel said in the same voice, only louder. Then he starter mimicking the way Darth Vadar breathed, also as loud as he could.

Reba sat on the love seat next to him as quickly as she could. "Will you shut up now?"

Her eyes betrayed her. They were sparkling with laughter, instead of the irritation she was trying to show.

"No." Narvel answered cheekily.

Reba raised her eyebrow.

"But I will speak quieter." he said. He lowered his voice to a whisper. "Just cause I obey beautiful women."

Reba froze as she heard those words. She looked into his eyes. Bad move. He was completely sincere. She was sure of it. Reba tore her eyes away from his and stood up.

"Come on. We can't stay here forever."

Reba walked away from him, talking to herself again. "He meant that as a friend. He said that cause you're a friend. He likes you as a friend. No need to freak out!" Reba calmed down a little.

Narvel trailed Reba slowly. Why did he say that? That had been having such a good moment!

"What about this one?" Reba gestured to a black leather office chair.

Narvel shrugged. "Not very impressive."

They looked at many more, but Narvel didn't like any of them. Finally they were in the last aisle, and Reba was exasperated. "You're going to have to like something!" she almost yelled.

"Now who's the loud one?"

Reba glared at him with her arms crossed.

"Ok, ok!" Narvel stepped closer to Reba. Reba knew she should move, but she was stuck to the spot.

"Found something I liked." Narvel looked straight into her eyes. Reba felt her knees weaken as he came even closer. She stumbled back.

"Stop." she said.

Narvel obeyed, but with pain in his eyes. He should have waited to hear what Stephanie said. Now things would never be the same between them. He had been so foolish to think that she would like him. "Incredibly stupid thing to do, Narvel!" he yelled at himself.

"I can't believe you would flirt like this with me when you're about to go out on a date with my," her voice broke. "With my friend."

Wait. What?

"Reba," Narvel was completely confused. "What are you talking about?"

"Don't play dumb with me Narvel! Stephanie told me what you said to her!"

"This morning?"

"Of course, you mo-ron!"

If they were in any other circumstance, Narvel would have laughed at the way she said moron. But this was serious.

"You mean this morning when I was asking her about you?"

"Yes! No! Wait, what?" Reba's head was spinning. "But-but you said-she said-it was about her!"

Narvel shook his head. "No way. I thought I was being obvious! I said it was a good friend of hers!"

"Oh please Narvel, everyone knows 'good friend' never means 'good friend'."

He stared at her a moment. "That doesn't even make sense. Look," Narvel took a step toward Reba again. "I went to Stephanie because I wanted to know if I had the smallest, barest trace of hope that you could bear me enough to go on a date with me. I figured you and Stephanie were good enough friends that she could tell me for sure. I wanted to know if I had any chance, before I talked to you and made a fool out of myself. But," Narvel let out a low chuckle. "I suppose I've done that anyway."

Reba stood there in shock. She tried to make sense of his words. "Are you saying that you're not interested in Stephanie?"

"Not in the least."

Too much was happening all at once. Reba felt faint. "You were trying to ask ME out?"

"Mm-hmm." Narvel stepped even closer.

Reba looked into Narvel's eyes. "You like ME?"

Narvel laughed quietly. "Do I need to keep repeating it?"

"Well, it is nice to hear." Reba quipped.

"Well then how's this. I like you, Ms. Hart. I like you a lot." Narvel decided to take the plunge, he pressed his lips to hers gently.

Reba felt electricity tingling everywhere in her body, she felt hot and cold, light-headed and leveled all at the same time.

Narvel didn't feel any slaps or punches, so he figured he could get away with putting his arms around her waist, pulling her closer to him. Gosh he had wanted to hold her for so long. Her kiss was even more amazing then he had imagined.

They stood there, in the middle of the office chair aisle in a furniture store, kissing. Not the most romantic place for a first kiss, but there you go. Reba finally broke it off. Narvel stared into those big blue eyes, wondering what the heck would happen next.


	10. Chapter 10

Reba thought for sure she was dreaming. There's no way that Narvel just said what he just said. But his arms were around her, holding her tight. That was a very real sensation. And she was pretty sure they just shared the kiss of a lifetime.

"Uh, Reba?" Narvel said, looking into her dazed face. "This is the part where you say, 'I like you too, Narvel. I'd LOVE to go on a date with you!'" He mocked her accent.

Reba laughed. "I do not sound like that! But I like you too, Narvel. And I'd love to go on a date with you."

Narvel let out the breath he had been holding. "Thank goodness." Narvel hugged her tighter. "I'm sorry for kissing you before our first date, but I just couldn't help myself." Narvel apologized.

Reba smiled. "I've been waiting for you to kiss me for a while." Reba rested her head on his chest.

"Really?"

"Mm-hmm."

"So...you wouldn't mind if I did it again?"

Instead of answering, Reba looked up at him and grinned. She threw her arms around his neck and brought him down for a more passionate kiss.

"Wow." Narvel said, his eyes still closed. "I knew I liked you for some reason."

Reba laughed and slapped his arm. "Nice to know what I'm appreciated for."

"Oh there's definitely more of you I appreciate." Narvel winked and chuckled when Reba turned red.

"I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that." Reba said primly. "Now, not that this isn't great and all, but we do have jobs."

Narvel pouted, but released her from his grip. She did have a point. He looked up, and immediately found the chair he wanted. It was red. The color of Reba's hair.

"That one." he said without hesitation.

"Red?" Reba wrinkled her nose. "Why would you want that one? The same style is in black and brown, even tan and cream!"

Narvel shrugged. "Guess I've got a thing for redheads-I mean, you know, red things." He slipped that out on purpose, wanting to see her reaction from the corner of his eye. She was blushing. Narvel grinned. She was so cute when she blushed.

"Are you sure?" Reba asked, wishing she didn't turn red so easily.

"Absolutely."

"Alright then. I suppose since I've got a thing for blondes-oh, 'scuse me,I meant tan-colored things, I'll go with the tan one." Reba started walking away from Narvel with a sassy look on her face. Narvel jaw dropped, he didn't expect that. He laughed and caught up to her easily.

"You think you're funny, don't you?" he said.

"Oh I know I am." Reba smirked at him.

Narvel chuckled and walked beside her as she went to the employee closest to them.

"Wait," Narvel stopped her. "You don't really have a thing for blondes, do you?"

Reba put her hand on his arm and looked at him sweetly. "Nah. I've decided brunettes can be pretty darn cute." she winked.

Narvel grinned and kissed her cheek. Narvel then turned to the employee and greeted him. "Good morning."

"Good morning," the employee said. "What can I do for you today?"

"Hello," Reba smiled. "We would like a couple of your office chairs..."

-

After they had gotten into their seperate cars, they headed back to the office with the new chairs in Narvel's SUV.

Narvel grinned like a fool the whole way back. "This is crazy. How did I get so lucky?" He thanked God over and over again. There was no way this amazing thing could have happened without His help.

"She's so incredible." he thought to himself. "Incredible, beautiful, sweet, caring." he thought about the way she was thinking about Stephanie's feelings the whole time. Putting her friend above herself. Gosh, she was perfect. Narvel knew he was getting a little overly sappy, but he couldn't help it. He had never felt this giddy about anyone, even Lisa.

Reba's thoughts were almost identical to Narvel's.

"He's amazing," she sighed happily. "Such a gentleman. And silly." she laughed, remembering how funny, yet terrible, his Darth Vader impression had been. Then her mind replayed their first kiss over and over. The absolute fireworks that had gone off stunned her. She hadn't felt that way since her marriage with Brock was still good. Reba sighed again. She couldn't really compare the two of them. What she felt with Narvel was different, but just as, or maybe even more wonderful.

In thinking these thoughts, Reba didn't realize that she had driven all the way back to the office. She pulled into the parking lot out of habit before shaking herself and coming out of her thoughts.

Reba parked and got out of her car quickly before making her way to Narvel.

"So how do you want to do this?" Reba asked, refering to how to take the chairs inside the building.

"Well I figured sometime before we leave I'll casually ask for you number, you'll probably tease me a little bit and we'll have some playful banter and then I'll beg and you'll finally give it to me," Narvel rambled with a smirk as Reba bit her lip, trying not to laugh. "And then I'll kiss you, or perhaps you'll kiss me, I don't really know what to expect from you anymore. And then we will unfourtunately part ways until tomorrow, and then,"

But Reba had heard enough. She put her hand over his mouth to quiet him. Her eyes were practically dancing with mirth.

"You talk too much." she withdrew her hand and replaced it with her lips for a quick, sweet kiss.

Narvel grinned at her. "So when I talk too much, you'll kiss me? Sounds like a good deal."

Reba shook her head, smiling. "Narvel, focus. I was talking about the new furniture."

"Oh," Narvel said sheepishly. "I'll go grab one of the guys to help me with it."

"Okay. Let's go!"

-

They were almost to the elevator when it hit Reba.

"Stephanie!" Reba gasped.

Narvel and Reba looked at each other. "Oh no," Reba cried, dismayed. "What do I say to her?"

Narvel thought for a moment. "I'll go get one of the guys to come help while you explain to her what happened. I'm sure she'll be fine."

"But what if she really liked you?"

"I don't think she really did. Don't worry, Reba. Everything will be fine."

They went up the elevator together, but when they neared Stephanie's desk, Narvel walked quickly past and Reba stayed by her.

"Hey Steph," Reba started out nervously.

"Hey Reba! How was the shopping trip?" Stephanie smiled and looked in the direction Narvel had gone.

"It went great! Real good. Um, Stephanie, you know what you were telling me this morning? About Narvel?"

"Yeah..." Stephanie looked at Reba hard, she could tell she wasn't acting normal. "Is something wrong?"

"Well n-no. But, well, Narvel and I were talking about it and, uh, well," Reba sighed. This was so difficult. "He was really asking about me." she finished quickly.

Stephanie sat there for a moment. "He wasn't asking me out?"

"Well, no."

"Oh," Stephanie said. "Huh. I thought for sure he was. Oh well! Did you let him down easy?"

Reba was stunned for a moment. "Wait, Steph, you're ok with this?"

"Sure! He's hot, but I don't have an emotional attatchment to him. It's all good!" Stephanie smiled at Reba to reassure her.

"Oh my gosh thank goodness. I was so worried!" Reba hugged her.

Stephanie laughed. "Well it would have been nice, but I'll get over it. Now! How did you tell him no?"

"Well, funny thing..." Reba began to say, but just then Narvel and another one of their co-workers, Brad, passed by the front desk (AKA Stephanie's Station, as Reba liked to call it).

Narvel studied Reba's face to see if he could decipher how things were going. Reba smiled at him, and Narvel knew everything was fine. He smiled back and said, "We'll be right back up with the chairs."

Reba nodded and watched them until they entered the elevators before turning back around to see Stephanie's shocked face.

"Oh my gosh you like him!"

Reba blushed and rubbed the back of her neck in embarrassment. "A little."

"A lot!" Stephanie laughed, shaking her head. "You didn't turn him down at all, did you?"

"We kissed." Reba whispered, bashfully.

"OH MY GOSH!" Stephanie yelled.

"Shhh!"

"Tell me everything." Stephanie ordered.

-

Reba walked away from Stephanie's desk with a big smile on her face. Steph was completely alright with Reba dating Narvel, she encouraged it even. It was such a relief not to worry about someone getting hurt from their relationship.

Reba opened the door to her office. Narvel had already been at work, transfering everything that had been in the old desk to the new one. And it looked great. The new red and brown chairs sat side by side very nicely, while the huge desk gave them each plenty of workspace.

Reba clasped her hands together in excitment. "It looks so good!" she exclaimed.

Reba went over to her chair and sat down. She leaned back in it and turned her head to smile at Narvel, who was sitting right beside her in his seat. "You chose really well!"

Narvel dipped his head graciously and said regally. "Thank you. I know I did."

Reba giggled. She and Narvel stared into each others eyes for a moment or two, then Narvel couldn't wait any longer. He put his hand on her cheek and pulled her closer to him. Narvel was about to press his lips to hers when there was a quick knock at their door. The two of them jumped apart.

"Come in." Reba said, unsteadily. She glanced at Narvel and saw him grinning at her. She glared at him in warning.

Mr. Jackson walked in and whistled. "This looks very nice, you two."

"It was all Narvel's idea." Reba said.

"But you helped me tremendously." Narvel answered quickly. They smiled at each other.

Mr. Jackson saw the quick exchange, along with how close their chairs were, and almost rubbed his hands together with glee. He knew he wasn't imagining the sparks between them. This would be great. Mr. Jackson believed when the employees are happy at work, it will outpour into their job and their customers, giving the job and the company positive effects.

"Well," Mr. Jackson interrupted their moment, a broad smile on his face. "I had better let you two get back to work."

"Right." Reba said as he walked out the door. "Work." she turned to Narvel after Mr. Jackson had left. "We should start on that."

Narvel sighed. "Alright. Just one more kiss? Please?"

Reba tried not to smile, what a baby. Reba rested her elbows on the arm rest, putting her chin in her hand, and closed her eyes.

"Go ahead." she said to him.

She didn't have to tell him twice. Narvel immediately crashed his lips to hers in a heated kiss, leaving them both breathless.

"Whew." Reba said when Narvel finally pulled away.

"I know." Narvel winked.

Reba laughed and shook her head. "Just get to work."

-

They worked together very well after that. There were a couple times when they wanted to drop what they were doing and just focus on each other, but they both knew that would have to wait until later. And the faster they got their work done, the faster "later" would finally arrive.

Reba glanced at her watch and sighed. It was time to leave. She looked over to where Narvel was standing, filing some papers.

"I'm gonna have to leave, Narvel. I've gotta get home to feed the kids."

Narvel immediately put down the papers he was holding and helped her gather her things. Reba smiled her appreciation and walked around the desk to him. She held out a scrap of paper.

"I decided you didn't have to beg for it." Reba's eyes twinkled.

Narvel looked at it. It was her number. Narvel grinned. "And I was fully prepared too!" he took the paper away from her.

Reba laughed and picked up her purse and briefcase. "Talk to you later?"

"Without a doubt." Narvel put his arm around her waist and pulled her close. He gave her a lingering kiss that made Reba's head spin.

"Ok, that's enough of that." Reba pulled herself away.

Narvel looked at her, confused.

Reba chuckled. "I can't drive if you keep making me light-headed."

Narvel was relieved, and also thrilled that he could have that effect on her. "Well that is true," he said, pretending to be arrogant. Reba rolled her eyes. "So you better leave. Before I can't resist."

Reba laughed and forced herself to step away from his warm embrace. "I'll talk to you later then."

Narvel nodded and watched her until she closed the door. He leaned on the desk. This was offically the best day of his life.


	11. Chapter 11

Reba made it home safely, despite Narvel's dizzying kisses. She strolled into the kitchen door humming the song that had been playing on the radio earlier, a song called "When Love Gets A Hold Of You." It described her feelings perfectly. Reba couldn't get Narvel out of her mind! Even when she was thinking about something as random as cooking or cleaning, she'd think about when Narvel asked her to go to lunch with him, and how much fun they had. Or when she was cleaning she'd remember how ever since their first introduction, he made sure to keep their office completely spotless.

Reba sighed happily for the upteenth time. Then she checked her phone to make sure he hadn't texted her yet, also for the upteenth time.

"Whatcha hummin'?" A perky voice said from behind her.

Reba jumped and nearly dropped her phone with fright. "Barbara Jean! Will you ever quit doing that?"

"Doing what?" Barbara Jean asked innocently.

"Ugh." Reba set down her phone on the counter and took out meat from the fridge. "What do you want Barbara Jean?"

"Well, I'm bored. Brock decided to go golfing and Henry is still taking his nap. Plus, I couldn't help but notice how when you pulled up, you had this gigantic smile on your face. Something good must have happened!"

"You watch me as I pull up?" Reba tried to change the subject. "You know that's not normal behavior, right?"

"It is for me!" Barbara Jean answered. "Sooooo?"

"So what?"

"What were you smiling about?"

Reba thought quicky, trying to find an excuse. "I had a good day at work. Is that so suspicious?"

"Yes."

Reba looked at Barbara Jean, exasperated. "Today was just an easy day is all."

Just then, Reba's phone vibrated. Reba dropped the meat on the counter, spun around quickly, and nearly leaped to grab her phone. She flipped it open and smiled at it. "Is this the phone of a Ms. Hart?" it read. She grinned and responded with, "That depends. Is this Mr. Blackstock?"

Barbara Jean stared at her. Reba never cared about her phone that much. This was getting more and more suspicious by the second.

"Reba?"

Reba stared at the phone, waiting for the reply. "Hmm?" she said without looking at her.

"Reba, I'm going to go up to your bedroom."

"Ok." Reba answered, trying to imagine what Narvel was going to say back.

Barbara Jean's mouth dropped open. "I'm gonna go take a long bath in your bathroom too."

"That's fine."

Barbara Jean had enough. She snatched Reba's phone from her hands and ran into the living room before Reba could to do anything.

"Barbara Jean!" Reba yelled as she ran after her.

"What is this, Reba? Talking to a guy, are we?" Barbara Jean held the phone up high so Reba couldn't reach it.

"That is none of your buisness, now give it back!" Reba jumped and tried to grab it, but she was still too short. "Barbara Jean!"

"Mr. Blackstock? You're flirtexting with Narvel?" Barbara Jean squealed when Reba turned beet red.

"Flirtexting is not a word, first of all. Second of all, GIVE. ME. MY. PHONE."

"Wait wait wait! You got a new message!"

"Give it to me!"

Barbara Jean ran around the couch, reading the text out loud.'Well unless you've been giving out your number to other guys. In which case, I'd be worried.' And a winky face! Awww! He's flirtexting back!"

Just then, Cheyenne opened the front door and stepped in, holding Elizabeth's hand. "Mom! What is going on?"

Reba ignored her and yelled at Barbara Jean. "Give it to me Barbara Jean or so help me I will pull out every strand of hair from your head!"

Barbara Jean dropped the phone on the couch quickly and backed away.

Reba picked it up, fixed her shirt and her hair and sat down calmly.

"Hello, Cheyenne. You're home early."

Cheyenne stared at her mom. "Yeah. Um, what was all that about?"

Reba was about to answer her when Barbara Jean blurted. "She's flirting with Narvel!"

Cheyenn's jaw dropped. She turned to her daughter. "Elizabeth, go put your backpack upstairs and I'll be there in a minute."

"Ok mommy." Elizabeth ran to hug Reba then climbed up the stairs with her backpack dragging behind her.

Cheyenne waited till she disappeared before flying onto the couch next to Reba. Cheyenne grasped Reba's arm and ordered her, "Tell me everything."

Barbara Jean ran to the other side of Reba and grabbed her other arm. "We've got you surrounded, peaches."

Reba groaned. She knew she had to tell them something or they would never lay off. "Narvel and I..." she started. "Um, well, we had a long talk and he asked me out and I accepted. Happy?"

Reba tried to get up, but the two of them had grips of steel and wouldn't let her go. "What else do you want to know?"

"That's not all that happened. Is it?" Barbara Jean said with an eyebrow raise. "Otherwise, you would be able to look me in the eye."

Reba gritted her teeth. She wasn't good at lying. That was more Brock's specialty.

"Come on, mom." Cheyenne stared her down.

"Ugh. Fine. We may or may not have," she paused and whispered. "kissed."

Cheyenne and Barbara Jean both screamed so loud it nearly broke Reba's eardrums. Then they started talking on top of each other.

"How did he do it?"

"Did you kiss him first?"

"Is he a good kisser?"

"Where did he kiss you?"

"In the office?"

"At lunch?"

"In the elevator?"

"QUIET!"

The two blondes fell silent.

"He basically just came up to me and kissed me. It was at the furniture store while we were looking for chairs for the office. As to him being a good kisser or not, that is none of your buisness. But would I have accepted him if he wasn't?" Reba shook of their grips and said. "That's all you're getting from me today, so don't even try anything else."

Reba hurried back into the kitchen while Cheyenne and Barbara Jean looked at each other with wide, excited eyes.

Cheyenne giggled. "Mom's in loooove."

"Ohhhh yeah. She's got the love bug bad!" Barbara Jean agreed.

"We've got to see them together!"

Barbara Jean thought a moment, then her face lit up. "Here's what we'll do..."

-

Narvel was sitting on his bed much later that night, leaning against the head board while he and Reba talked. And talked. And talked. Before he knew it, his phone started beeping, warning him of a low battery.

Narvel groaned inwardly. He didn't want to end their conversation. He loved hearing her cute southern drawl on the other end of the line. Right then they were discussing desserts. Narvel wasn't sure how they got on that subject, but she was trying to convince him that pumpkin pie was the best dessert in the world.

"It's true!" she insisted. "You can eat it plain and it still tastes amazing, or you can put tons of different toppings and it can taste even better! There's no going wrong with it."

"Well you can do that to any other dessert too. Ice cream is the best. ANYTHING can go on ice cream." Narvel shot back.

"Not hot sauce."

"Hot sauce?" Narvel chuckled a little bit. "Why would you even consider putting hot sauce on ice cream? Or any dessert?"

"Van did it one time. He thought that the sugar and the coldness of the ice cream would counter-act the hot sauce. Don't ask me why! He just did."

Narvel laughed hard. "I have got to meet this kid."

Reba giggled. "He's crazy. But he's a good kid."

"They all sound like they're great kids. Probably cause their mother raised them right." he complimented her.

"Well," Narvel imagined she was blushing. "I don't like to brag..."

Narvel laughed again and the two of them fell silent for the first time in 2 1/2 hours.

"You know," Narvel said after a moment of silence. "We've been talking for all this time, my phone's about to die, and we still haven't discussed our date."

Reba laughed. "I know. We're hopeless."

"It's your fault. You like to argue with me." Narvel teased.

"I wouldn't have to argue with you if you'd just agree that I'm always right!" Reba shot back humorously.

"Pffft. Not true."

"Yes it is."

"No it's not."

"Yes it is."

Narvel just laughed again. "Ok have it your way."

"Thank you!" Reba answered victoriously.

"Seriously though," Narvel directed the conversation back to the original subject. "Do you want me to surprise you, or is there something specific that you want to do?"

"Hmm..." Reba thought a moment. Narvel imagined how Reba looked when she was deep in thought. She would gaze off into the distance, press her lips together, and when she was around a surface such as a desk or a counter, she would start tapping it with her fingernails. Narvel was off in a dream, thinking about her when he realized she was talking again.

"How about just a simple dinner and a movie? I haven't done that in a while."

"That sounds perfect. How about right after work on Friday?"

"Sounds great." Narvel could hear the smile in her voice.

"Well, my phone is beeping at me again."

"Yeah, it's getting pretty late." Reba agreed.

"I'll see you in the morning?" Narvel delayed, wished he didn't have to hang up. Well, if we started wishing, what he really wanted was for Reba to be right there with him. So he could hold her and talk to her all night long.

"Of course. Bright and early!" Reba answered. She didn't want to hang up either. Why couldn't he just be there with her right now? Then they could talk and talk to their hearts content.

"Well I'll see you then, partner."

"Have a good night, Narvel." Reba replied softly. Before she hung up she heard the words that melted her heart.

"You too, beautiful."


	12. Chapter 12

Reba woke up Tuesday morning with her cell phone cradled to her chest. She looked at it, puzzled as to why she had fallen asleep holding her phone, before she remembered her and Narvel's conversation last night.

"You too, beautiful." he had said.

A wide grin spread across Reba's face. It had been so long since she had recieved so much attention from a man. She forgot how wonderful it was.

Reba sat up and flipped open her phone to find out Narvel had already sent her a good morning text.

"Rise and shine, Sleeping Beauty! You better not be late to work. Your partner is impatient to see you."

Reba giggled like a little girl. She loved their silly, and often pointless conversations they had. "My partner had better learn to be patient then. He doesn't want to see me when I've just rolled out of bed." she sent those words to Narvel before finally getting out of her warm bed and into the shower.

Reba came out 15 minutes later and immediately checked her phone.

"Trust me. I happen to know he would be delighted ;)"

Reba turned pink. He could turn anything around on her. "You'd better stop distracting me, otherwise I'll never make it on time." she scolded him.

"Alright! I'm done! Go!" he returned only moments later.

Reba laughed and set her phone on her bed as she finished getting ready.

-

A little while later Reba came into the kitchen where Van and Cheyenne were finishing breakfast.

"Morning, Mrs. H! Isn't it a beautiful, love-filled day?" Van greeted her over-enthusiastically.

Reba looked at him warily as she poured herself some coffee. "Good morning to you too, Van."

Reba took a sip of her coffee and saw Van try to casually wink at Cheyenne. She just gave him a warning glare in return.

Before Reba could question their strange behavior, Cheyenne quickly said, "Mom, what time do you take your lunch break?"

Reba raised her eyebrow. "That depends on how much work I have. Today I have an open house at 2, so probably right before that. Why?"

"I just thought we could grab a bite to eat together! That's all!" Cheyenne said innocently.

"Uh huh. That sure doesn't seem like that's all." Reba looked at Cheyenne closely. "This doesn't have to do with Na-" she stopped. She didn't need Van involved in this yet. "I mean, what we were talking about yesterday, does it?"

Cheyenne made Barbara Jean's famous lying face. "Noooooo."

Reba just looked at her.

"Maybe..." Cheyenne muttered.

"That's what I thought. No you are not allowed to come. You'll distract me from my work."

"Cheyenne will distract you more than a certain someone? I find that hard to believe, Mrs. H." Van wiggled his eyebrows at Reba.

Reba set her coffee cup down with a bang. "You told him?" she accused her daughter.

"Well I can't keep secrets from my husband!" Cheyenne defended herself.

Reba shook her head. "I'm going to be late for work." she went over to Cheyenne and kissed her head. She then turned to her granddaughter and covered Elizabeth's face with kisses before turning toward the back door. Van was standing there, jutting out his cheek and closing his eyes, as if expecting a kiss. Reba just patted him on the shoulder.

"I'll see you later, Van." and out she went.

Van walked over to Elizabeth. "You'll give me kisses, won't you Elizabeth?"

Elizabeth leaned forward from her high chair and gave her daddy a kiss on the cheek.

"That's my girl!" Van started tickling her, making her laugh uncontrolablly.

"Will you take care of her? I've got to go decide what to wear." Cheyenne cleared the table quickly and began walking out of the kitchen.

"Why? Are you going somewhere special?" Van asked.

"I've got a lunch with my mom and her boyfriend to go to!" Cheyenne said with a gleam in her eye.

"Wait, Cheyenne, Mrs. H just said no!"

"Sure she says that now. But I've got a plan." Cheyenne smiled and left the kitchen.

-

Despite Reba's comment to the kids about being late for work, she actually arrived early. Reba fluffed her hair a little bit, checked her makeup, and straightened her clothes before getting out of her car.

"He's making me into some vain person," Reba thought to herself, smiling as she entered the building. "It wasn't too long ago that I came here with my hair completely unbrushed!"

Reba waited impatiently for the elevator to arrive on her floor. When it did, she started walking before the metal doors had completely opened, nearly slamming into it.

"Calm down," Reba told herself sternly. "You act like you haven't seen him in a year!" Reba forced herself to walk a little more slowly after that. Finally making it to her and Narvel's office, she opened the door and walked in, finding Narvel with his eyes closed, feet on the desk, and singing along to his radio.

When Narvel heard the door, his eyes flew open and he threw his legs off the desk. Reba tried not to laugh at his frightened expression.

"You-you're early. I was just, uh," Narvel stammered. He turned off his radio. "I'm sorry." he said, hoping she wouldn't be mad.

"What are you sorry for?" Reba dropped her things on the desk, leaned over, and turned the radio back on. "Brooks and Dunn is never wrong." Reba smiled at him.

Narvel breathed a sigh of relief. "Oh thank goodness." He took a good look at her. "You look...so amazing."

Reba put her head down bashfully and blushed. "Thank you."

Narvel got up and went around the desk. He took her hand and said sincerely. "I've always thought that. Everyday since the first time I saw you. I was just too afraid of being punched to say so." He gave a little half grin.

Reba laughed. "You were right to be cautious! I don't know what I would have done, but it probably wouldn't be good." she laughed again, then smiled sweetly at him. "But thank you, Narvel." Reba went on her tip-toes and kissed him gently.

Narvel bent down and put his arms around her. Reba's hands went around his neck as their kiss grew more heated.

Narvel made sure he pulled back before he got carried away. This woman made him go crazy.

Reba rested in his embrace and sighed. "We have to get to work." she said.

"Yeah." he answered. But neither of them moved.

"Want to go have lunch together before the open house today?" Narvel asked her.

Reba looked up at him. "I thought our date was on Friday?" she said, cocking her head to one side and raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah well, the idiot who suggested that should have made it sooner. It's too far away!" Narvel pouted.

Reba giggled. "So then what do we call all the lunches we have together if they don't count as a date?"

"Uhh," Narvel's eyes lit up with an idea. "A prep-date? Like, preparing for the date?"

"Prep-date?" Reba laughed. "Ok then. Prep-date it is."

"Reba," Narvel grinned at her. "Would you like to go on a prep-date with me this afternoon?"

"I would love to." Reba responded, her eyes sparkling.

Narvel kissed her lips once more before letting her go.

"Ok," Narvel said in a depressed voice. "Time for work."

Reba laughed and sat down in her seat. "What still needs to be done before the open house?"

Narvel sat down next to her and started explaining. "These brochures need to come with us. I've already grabbed enough for today so we just need to make sure we take them. Then we'll need these..."

-

Narvel and Reba worked hard for the rest of the morning. They wouldn't be able to deny that there weren't any sweet moments or a few stolen kisses, but when they started working, they were a team. A team that got the job done, and got it done right. Another plus that came from their teamwork was that the time flew by quickly. Before they knew it, it was 12:00.

"You reached a stopping point yet, Reba?" Narvel asked her. He turned his gaze from his work to the redhead. She was already cleaning up.

Reba grinned at him. "I was just about to ask you the same thing."

"Well let's get going!" Narvel smiled back, excited to have some time alone with her before work got in the way again.

Just then, there was a knock on their door.

"Come in!" Narvel called.

Reba looked up to see who it was, and was shocked to see her own daughter staring at her, smiling.

"Hey mom!" Cheyenne hurried over to Reba and gave her a hug.

"Cheyenne," Reba was still stunned. "What are you doing here? Is Elizabeth ok? Van?"

Cheyenne dismissed Reba's worry with a wave of her hand. "Oh they're fine! I just wanted to come see you! Oh! Is this your new partner you've been raving about?" Cheyenne turned her smile to Narvel, who's own smile grew when he heard the words, "raving about".

"Cheyenne," Reba's tone was warning, but she was too well-mannered to not introduce them. She reluctantly made the introduction. "This is Narvel Blackstock, Narvel, my oldest daughter, Cheyenne."

"A pleasure to meet you." Narvel offered his hand.

"The pleasure is all mine, believe me." Cheyenne said, taking his hand and looking back at her mom. "Way to go!" she mouthed.

Reba blushed. "Alright Cheyenne, thanks for stopping by! But we've got to get back to work."

"But isn't it lunch time? You guys have to eat! I haven't had lunch myself either, but I was going to stop by Jason's Deli or something. You two could join me!" Cheyenne spoke so fast, Reba didn't have a chance to stop her.

Reba gritted her teeth. "I don't know Cheyenne, don't you have a husband to feed?"

"Oh he and Elizabeth are eating together at home. They'll be fine. So? How about it?"

Cheyenne's bubbly nature made it impossible to say no. And as much as Narvel would rather be alone with Reba, he didn't want to deny her own child. Plus, this could be a way to find out more about Reba. And he was always up for that.

"Sure!" Narvel agreed.

Cheyenne squealed with excitment. She looked at Reba, who nodded in defeat.

"Alright," Reba said. "Narvel, can I ride with you?"

"Absolutely." Narvel answered without hesitation.

They smiled at each other, with Cheyenne almost bouncing with excitment in between them.

"Let's go!" Cheyenne pulled at her mom's arm.

"You go on ahead and make sure we get a table. We'll be there soon." Narvel said smoothly.

"Oh, ok!" Cheyenne winked at Reba and went out the door.

Reba sighed. "I'm sorry, Narvel. I told her this morning she couldn't come, but she's pretty stubborn. It comes from her father, of course."

Narvel chuckled. "Her father. Right." he gave her a knowing look. "It's fine, really! I've been dying to meet your kids anyway."

"Yeah, well, I wanted to be alone with you." Reba mumbled.

Narvel grinned. "What was that? Repeat, please?" He cupped his hand to his ear to hear her better.

Reba blushed, but answered him, louder this time. "I said, I wanted to be alone with you."

"And that," Narvel said, stepping towards her and putting his hands on her waist. "makes me so happy." He leaned forward and kissed her. Reba could pratically feel the sparks lighting up between them. She would never get tired of this feeling.

Narvel sighed with irritation when Reba pulled away. "I can't wait till our date." he said. "You won't have an excuse to stop kissing me."

"It's not an excuse! It's a reason." Reba protested.

"Well then I can't wait till you have no reason not to kiss me." Narvel decided.

Reba kissed him on his bearded cheek. "Friday." she said. She smiled and left his side to pick up the several things they needed for the open house.

"I should have said, 'Meet me at the park tonight' instead of 'Friday'" Narvel muttered as he helped Reba pick up. "Friday. Ugh. Idiot."

Reba just laughed and walked out the door.

-

Cheyenne sat in her car and whipped out her cell phone. She dialed Barbara Jean's number and waited for her to pick up.

Barbara Jean answered the phone quickly. "Well?"

"They're coming!" Cheyenne announced.

"Yes! We are genius!" Barbara Jean exclaimed.

"Oh my gosh, you were so right Barbara Jean, they are PERFECT for each other! He's a dream boat!" Cheyenne gushed.

"I know right? Not only does Reba have a new man, but she got a HOTTIE!"

"Totally. And he has an adorable accent. Ah! They're so cute! I can't wait to see them talk together! You have the table?"

"All ready!" Barbara Jean answered. "Hurry up!"

"Be there in ten!" Cheyenne said, starting her car.

"See you then!" And they hung up.

Cheyenne bounced a little in her seat. She was so ecstatic for her mom. This was gonna be a great lunch!


	13. Chapter 13

Reba groaned as soon as they pulled into the parking lot. She immediately spotted Barbara Jean's car.

"Why me?" she groaned again.

"What is it?" Narvel asked her.

Reba looked pleadingly into his eyes. "Just remember how much you like me, ok?"

Narvel laughed, and with a sideways glance at the redhead he said, "Trust me, nothing will make me forget about that." he said as he pulled into a parking space.

Reba couldn't help but grin at his words.

As they walked to the building, Reba felt her worries once again rising to the surface. This wasn't going to be good.

Narvel opened the door for her and Reba stepped into the restaurant, almost immediately spotting the two scheming blondes in a booth far away from the crowd of people getting their lunch.

"Barbara Jean," Reba greeted her with an all-knowing glare. "Funny meeting you here. Here. At the exact same restaurant Cheyenne picked out." Cheyenne looked at her mother with a smirk.

"Oh well you know, great minds think alike!" Barbara Jean said cheerfully. "But where are your manners, Reba? Aren't you going to introduce me to your hottie partner?" Barbara Jean winked at Narvel.

Narvel was slightly taken aback by her forwardness, but did not show his surprise. He merely smiled and waited for Reba to make the introductions.

Reba, on the other hand, was embarrassed and irritated. "Why does Barbara Jean think it's alright to flirt so outrageously with my-I mean, a man?" she thought. "And she's questioning MY manners?" Reba gritted her teeth, but then said, "Narvel, Barbara Jean Hart, Barbara Jean, Narvel Blackstock."

"Pleased to meet you, ma'am." Narvel offered his hand, which Barbara Jean took gladly.

"Likewise, cowboy." Barbara Jean wiggled her eyebrows and held on to his hand until Cheyenne elbowed her in the side.

"Barbara Jean! He's mom's! Remember?" she hissed loudly.

"Oh, right." Barbara Jean "whispered" back, dropping Narvel's hand.

Reba covered her eyes with her hand, wishing she could be anywhere but here.

"Have a seat you two!" Cheyenne said, breaking the awkward silence.

"We have to go order our food first!" Reba blurted. She took Narvel's arm and steered him to the counter.

"I'm so sorry, Narvel." she apologized as soon as they were out of their lunch companions earshot. "You weren't supposed to meet any of my family until I gave them a loonnngg lecture. Now you've been forced to meet some of them under the worst of circumstances and-"

Narvel chuckled and interrupted her. "It's alright, Reba! I don't mind a bit of craziness."

"It might be a bit more than just a bit." Reba mumbled.

"I think I can handle it." Narvel smiled to reassure her.

Reba grinned at him and almost stood on her tip-toes to kiss his cheek. But then she spotted two pairs of eyes watching her every move and decided against it. There would be time for that later.

"Awww look at them! They're smiling at each other!" Cheyenne slid into her seat with a happy sigh. "I have never seem mom so smitten with a guy before. She practically glows when she's around him!"

"I know! She's got a looovvveee shine." Barbara Jean said happily. "I can't wait to see how this romance pans out!" Truth be told, Barbara Jean had been worried about Reba lately. She didn't like seeing her best friend all alone! One time she and Reba had been watching a movie together, and when one particularly romantic scene came on, Barbara Jean heard Reba sigh and saw her stare dreamily at the screen for a few moments. Of course, Reba had snapped out of it quickly and demanded that she stop staring or she'd poke her eyes out, but Barbara Jean had not forgotten about that moment. And she decided from then on that she would find the perfect guy for her bestest best friend. As the woman who stole her husband, it only seemed right! And while she hadn't exactly found Narvel all by herself, she was gonna make sure Reba snapped him up quickly! After she made sure he was worthy of her, of course.

Barbara Jean's thoughts were interrupted when Narvel and Reba slid into the booth. She flashed a big smile at Narvel.

"So, Narv," Reba rolled her eyes. "Tell us about yourself."

"Yes! Tell us!" Cheyenne echoed.

Narvel smiled. "What do you want to know?"

"Oh, you know, stuff like where you were born, why you moved to Houston. You know." Cheyenne sipped some of her water and listened close.

"Well I was born in Burleson, Texas. But I went to college in Austin and started working there as a real estate agent after I graduated. I moved to Houston because I got a job offer, and it's closer to my family."

"Do you have siblings?" Cheyenne asked.

"One sister."

Barbara Jean was impatient. She wanted to know the juicy stuff! "How many girlfriends you've had, and have you ever cheated on any of them?" she interrupted Cheyenne. Reba's eyes widened, but Barbara Jean started speaking faster. "What about a wife? Have you ever had a wife? What about your police record? Have you ever gotten a ticket for not wearing your seatbelt? Have you ever been in jail?"

"Barbara Jean!" Reba yelled. If she could hit the ditz, she would. "That is enough!"

"Oh my gosh Barbara Jean! You're not supposed to move that fast! We had a whole plan!" Cheyenne pouted. "Now mom's not gonna let us ask him anything!"

"Well I'm sorry but you were moving too slow! We gotta know all as much as we can so we can see if she's gotta dump him or not!"

"You guys!" Reba yelled again.

Narvel sat there for a moment in shock, listening to them. Then he started to laugh.

Reba stared at him. "What in the world, Narvel? Don't encourage them!"

"He has an amazing laugh." Cheyenne noted to Barbara Jean.

"True."

Narvel heard the exchange and laughed louder.

"Narvel!" Reba tried not to smile at his contagious laughter. She hit him on his chest and his laugh calmed down to a chuckle.

"I'm sorry." Narvel said when he could speak. "I've just never met such a dysfunctional family before. My family is somewhat more stiff and proper. This is really a breath of fresh air." Narvel flashed a brilliant grin to Reba and took her hand.

Reba smiled into his eyes. "I'm glad you can find enjoyment out of it. Instead of running away screaming like I'm tempted to do."

"Wait, is that option still available?" he teased.

"Nope. Now there's no getting out." she answered.

"Shoot. I should have moved when I had the chance."

"Awww!" Cheyenne and Barbara Jean interrupted again with their squealing. "You guys are too cute!"

Reba blushed while Narvel squeezed her hand and grinned again.

The rest of the lunch went much smoother. Reba only had to threaten violence twice. Finally they saw it was time to leave. Reba and Narvel said goodbye to Cheyenne and Barbara Jean and left immediately for the open house.

"Narvel," Reba began. Something he said had left her with some questions. "What did you mean by saying your family was more stiff?"

"Oh, well, my parents are very much workaholics. They weren't at home a lot. So I didn't get to experience a lot of that friendly, family kind of banter. You know what I mean?"

Reba nodded. She felt sad for Narvel. She had always been close to her mother and father, and she made sure that her family spent plenty of time together. She couldn't imagine life without that kind of warmth. "When you hang out with my family for a while, you'll get tired of it real quick." she joked.

Narvel smiled at her and they pulled into the driveway of the house.

"Time for work." Narvel sighed as he turned off the car.

Reba laughed. "I'm guessing that the workaholic genes didn't pass on to you?"

"Not at all." Narvel replied, winking.

The open house was very successful. They sold the house and, as a bonus, had another couple interested in one of their other houses.

Narvel and Reba parted ways for the day with another sweet kiss that thrilled the both of them and left them yearning for Friday. Later, Narvel sat on his bed, waiting for Reba to call him. While he waited, Narvel thought back to the open house. He loved watching Reba interact with the clients. She was so loving to everyone she spoke to, it was no wonder she sold more houses then the rest of her co-workers! She definitely had a natural gift for it. And she was so thoughtful too. Always trying her hardest to pair the client with their perfect house. It was so endearing. Narvel was snapped out of his warm thoughts by his phone buzzing. He answered it quickly.

Narvel was about to greet Reba when he heard a bunch of yelling.

"He never listens to a thing I say!"

"Because normally its just a bunch of blah blah blah about your beanie babies!"

"You like hearing about it, Brock. You can't deny it." He heard Reba's voice say. She must have called him by accident. Should he hang up? "You guys need to go argue somewhere else. I have an important phone call to make." Narvel grinned at those words. Yup. She dialed him by accident.

Narvel heard a little more bickering, and then a door slammed. He listened as Reba sighed. Then there was a moment of silence before she said, "Lights out now, Jake. School night!"

A young boy's voice responded with, "Sure mom. Night."

"I love you."

"Love you too."

Narvel smiled again at that. He heard a door shut and then a gasp. He assumed she noticed that he was on the line.

"Oh my gosh. Narvel?" Reba said into the phone.

"Hello." he said simply.

"Oh gosh, Narvel I'm so sorry! I must have pressed call on accident! Oh man. What did you hear?"

"Just some arguing and you speaking to Jake. Don't worry about it, Reba. It's no big deal. Was that Brock and Barbara Jean arguing?"

"Yes." Reba sighed. "They do that a lot. It's kinda their thing."

"And I like to hear that I'm important. That boosted my ego a bit."

Reba rolled her eyes. "Oh goodness. That's the last thing I need. You with an even bigger head." she teased.

"My big, IMPORTANT head." he corrected.

Reba laughed.

They talked for a while about various things. Sports, work, their date, among other things. But finally Reba's yawns became more frequent.

"I'd better let you sleep." Narvel decided.

"No I'm fin-" she yawned again. "Yeah I guess."

Narvel laughed. "Goodnight, Reba."

"That's not what you called me the other night." Reba said in a sleepy voice.

"What did I call you?"

"You said, 'night, beautiful.'" Reba was nearly half asleep. "I thought it was sweet."

Narvel smiled. "Well then, night, beautiful."

Reba sighed contentedly and fell asleep.


	14. Chapter 14

The next couple of days moved slowly at work. All Reba could think about was their date. Even though she already knew where they would be going and what they'd be doing, it was still thrilling to know that they would finally be going out together not as co-workers, but as two people pursuing each other.

Narvel was feeling very much the same. He couldn't wait to have Reba all to himself. Without having the pressure of work to come between them.

Finally Friday morning arrived. When Reba and Narvel saw each other at work, they were unable to keep a huge smile from breaking out on their faces. They finished all their work as early as possible and Reba was about to head out when Narvel took her in his arms and held her tight.

"I can't wait either, Narvel. If that's what you're wondering." Reba teased, trying not to show how much being in his arms effected her.

Narvel chuckled. "It is nice to have a reassurance." he looked down into Reba's big blue eyes.

Reba's heart pounded. She loved it when he looked at her like that. Not waiting for him to move first, she wrapped her arms around his neck and brought his face down to hers.

Narvel got lost in her kiss for a few moments before pulling away. He was slightly out of breath. "6:30?" he asked.

Reba nodded and smiled. She grabbed her purse and walked out.

At home, Reba was in a flurry. She was so bad at dates. She always had plenty of time to choose an outfit, but she never did until the day of. In desperation, she called Cheyenne to her room.

"What's up, mom?" Cheyenne asked when she came in.

Reba looked at her, miserable. "I have nothing to wear!"

Cheyenne laughed. "So NOW you don't mind me butting in?" Reba had given her and Barbara Jean a piece of her mind after the lunch stunt. A BIG piece. One that took 30 minutes to let out.

Reba just glared.

"Kidding, mom." Cheyenne smiled. "I like Narvel! Of course I'll help!"

Reba sighed with relief. "Ok. We're going to dinner and a movie. What's appropriate for that?"

"Well let's look through here..."

Narvel pulled into Reba's driveway a couple minutes before 6:30. He knew from experience that she wouldn't be ready just yet, so he waited in the car for the last two minutes before getting out and ringing the door bell. A man who looked to be around 20 or so opened the door.

"Yes?" said Van, after looking Narvel up and down.

"Hello. I'm here to pick up Reba." Narvel answered politely.

"Are you now?" Van's chest swelled as his "Mrs. H Protection Skills" kicked in.

Narvel tried not to smile. Reba told him about Van. "You must be Van, am I right?"

"That's right." Van tried to make himself look big and intimidating.

Narvel stuck out his hand. "I'm Narvel Blackstock. Reba's partner."

"Mhmm. Partner in what is the question." Van muttered under his breath before taking Narvel's hand and shaking it. He had a firm grip, Van noticed. Maybe he would do. "Come in." Van invited.

"Thanks." Narvel stepped in and looked around, then turned back to Van and figured he would start a conversation with him while he waited for Reba. Narvel nodded to the TV that was playing ESPN. "Did you see the Cowboys fudge it up yesterday?"

Van's face lit up. "Did I ever! Cheyenne threatened to kick me out cause I was yelling at the TV so loud."

"He's here!" Reba said to Cheyenne. "Just leave it!"

"Not yet!" Cheyenne pulled the curling iron out of Reba's hair and put another strand in. "I'm almost done!"

Reba squirmed in her seat while she waited. Suddenly, she froze. "Cheyenne, he's down there. With Van. Alone." they looked at each other in horror and Cheyenne pulled the last curl out quickly.

"We better hurry. Earrings!"

Reba finished her wardrobe quickly and started down the stairs. What she saw shocked her. Narvel and Van were watching the "Not Top Ten" on ESPN and laughing together. When Narvel heard footsteps he immediately stood and turned quickly to see her. Time went by a little slower as Narvel watched her come down the stairs. She was wearing a green, shimmery silk blouse with short, fluttering sleeves, form-fitting black dress pants that flared slightly at the bottom, and black heels. Her red hair was loosely curled and she was carrying a black clutch purse. She smiled when she saw Narvel staring.

"Hey." she said when she reached the bottom.

"Hey. You look, um, well you look really," Reba raised her eyebrows. "Stunning." Narvel finally got out.

Reba laughed. "Well are we gonna leave or what?"

"Oh! Yeah. Yeah." Narvel finally looked away from Reba to shake hands with Van. "Nice meeting you, Van."

"Likewise, Narvel." Van was about to say something else, but Reba sensed what he was about to say and pulled Narvel out of the house before he could.

"Bye guys!" Reba called out before shutting the front door.

"Someone's in a hurry!" Narvel remarked, striding alongside her.

"Trust me. It's for the best." Reba said. "Come on! Let's go!"

They almost made it to the car before Van opened the door and yelled, "Have fun, but not too much fun if you know what I-ah!" Cheyenne pulled him inside before he could say more. She waved to them and shut the door.

Narvel laughed and opened the car door for Reba. When he made it into the car himself, he said to Reba, "They sure are funny kids."

"Oh, you don't know the half of it!" Reba chuckled. "Now." Reba looked at him and gave him a dazzling smile. "Where are we going?"

"Italian!" Narvel answered.

Reba clasped her hands together with excitement. "I love italian!"

Narvel glanced at her and smiled. She really did look so beautiful.

The conversation on the way to the restaurant was light and relaxed. When they arrived, Narvel once again opened Reba's door and took her hand as she stepped out.

"Oh!" he suddenly remembered. "This is for you." Narvel opened the back door, pulled something from the back seat, and revealed a red rose. "I didn't know what your favorite flower was, so I just decided to go with the cheesy same ol same ol."

Reba could tell he was slightly embarrassed. She took the rose from him delicately and gave him a big grin. "I don't mind cheesy. I like cheese."

They laughed together as they stood by the car. Then Narvel remembered one other thing. "You know," he started, looking into Reba's eyes. "You never did give me a proper hello." he gave her a sad look.

Reba giggled. "Excuse my bad manners."

"Well, I'd have to be convinced to be forgiving first." he looked at her mischievously.

Reba let out a laugh and pulled Narvel close to her. "I can do that." she said, gazing up at him.

Narvel cradled her face in his hands and kissed her sweetly. Reba fairly melted in his arms and kissed him back passionately.

"Am I forgiven?" Reba asked, her eyes still closed.

Narvel kissed her again, more gently this time. "I suppose so."

Reba opened her eyes and laughed. "Well if you finally feel you've been greeted properly, are we gonna go in and eat?"

"Absolutely." Narvel answered, smiling at her. He started walking beside her before asking, "May I take you hand?" in an adorable, gentlemanly way.

Reba felt giddy. He was so sweet. "Of course." she answered, smiling.

Narvel took her hand and together they walked into the restaurant.

Once they were seated, any awkwardness from this being their "first date" fell away. They talked as if they were best friends.

Narvel asked that they be sat in a booth, so that he could sit right next to Reba instead of all the way on the other side of the table. He held her hand the whole time, until dinner was served and he was forced to let go. Which melted Reba's heart into a puddle. While his outward appearance was somewhat intimidating, his personality was incredibly sweet and thoughtful. And she was finding that out more and more the better she got to know him.

When the waiter asked if they would be getting dessert, Reba started to refuse, but Narvel spoke over her, saying that they would share one of their renowned brownie a la modes.

Reba looked at Narvel with mock disapproval when the waiter walked away.

"Trying to fatten me up?"

"Mhmm." Narvel replied. "You're too skinny. Although with how much you eat, that shouldn't be the case."

Reba slapped him lightly, laughing. "You're so bad. Don't make fun of my eating habits!"

"Just pointing out the truth, Red." Narvel returned humorously.

"Red?" Reba raised her eyebrow. "Since when do you call me that?"

"For a while, actually. In my head. It fits you."

Reba flushed slightly at hearing she was in his thoughts, then asked, "Now why is that?"

"Well, red is associated with temper, which I know for a fact you have," Narvel began. His eyes twinkled when he saw Reba sit up straight with a fake, offended look on her face. "Red can also be a sign for anger, and I have seen you angry before. It's kinda scary." Narvel watched her closely and noticed some of her mock irritation started to become real, he could tell. She now glared at him.

"Are you finished pointing out my flaws?"

"Nope." Narvel responded. He took her hand again and leaned close to her. "Red is also affiliated with heat. And as the kids would say these days, you're definitely a hottie." he winked at her.

Reba felt her cheeks grow hot, but her body relaxed. "Nice save there." she told him. "I should call you Prince Charming."

"Thank you. And I have no objection to be called Prince Charming. I like to think of myself as pretty princel-"

Narvel was cut off by Reba's lips crashing onto his. He was surprised, but definitely not complaining. Narvel scooted closer to her and put his one free hand on her cheek. Their passionate kiss was interrupted by someone clearing their throat. Reba broke away quickly and looked down at her lap, mortified. Narvel, however, merely sighed and looked up to see the waiter carrying their dessert.

"Thanks." Narvel said. The waiter gave Narvel a thumbs up and a grin before leaving. Narvel chuckled and turned to his date.

"He's gone, Red."

"I don't know what came over me." she whispered, finally looking away from her hands.

"Well, I'm pretty irresistible." Narvel said, grinning.

Reba tried to frown at him but found it impossible. "As my mama would say, you're gettin' too big for your britches."

"Well now that you mention it-"

"Ah!" Reba raised her hand to silence him. "Not another word, smart aleck! The dessert is waiting!"

"Oh now you want dessert." Narvel loved teasing her. He got the biggest kick out of it.

"Yup. Now shut your mouth and tell me how this tastes before I eat it." Reba forked a piece of the brownie, fed it to Narvel and waited for his response.

Narvel chewed slowly on purpose, then began stroking his beard as if he was thinking deep and hard about the most complex question known to mankind.

"Narvel!" Reba laughed. "Just answer me!"

Narvel finally swallowed. "It's pretty good."

Reba laughed at him again.

The rest of the night was spent that way. Narvel teasing Reba, Reba teasing him back, creating much laughter on both sides. By the time they finished watching the movie and they were on their way home, Reba felt like she had done 50 abb workouts.

Reba and Narvel came up to Reba's porch, still laughing and holding hands. When they had calmed down, Reba looked up into Narvel's eyes and smiled. Narvel had to catch his breath, partly because of laughing, but the larger part was because of her gorgeous smile. It would always take his breath away, and without fail, warm him from his head to his toes.

"I had such a great time with you." Reba said, taking his other hand in hers. "I don't want it to end."

Narvel squeezed her hands gently. "I know." he said simply. He stooped down slightly and kissed her deeply.

Reba released his hands and wrapped them around his neck tightly. She felt his arms go around her waist and she wished he would never let go. Their kiss sent Reba's head spinning. It felt like their first kiss everytime.

Eventually, too soon in Reba's opinion, they had to break off the kiss. Reba rested her head on his chest and sighed happily. She couldn't remember the last time she felt so content. And so complete.

Narvel held her tight, savoring her closeness, when all of a sudden he heard a thump, along with some scuffling and harsh whispers coming from inside the house.

Reba looked up from the warmth of Narvel's body and reluctantly turned away from him to open the front door. She opened it and looked in, with Narvel close behind her. Cheyenne was trying to hold Van back from charging the front door.

"What are you doing home so late, young lady?" Van finally got loose from Cheyenne's grip and strode towards Reba and Narvel.

Reba rolled her eyes and faced Narvel once again. She smiled at him. "You'd better go. Things might get ugly."

Narvel chuckled, and while he didn't want to leave, he knew it was best. Narvel kissed Reba's cheek lingeringly, "I'll text you later.

Reba nodded and watched him as he turned away and walked to his car. She waited there until he drove off, waving to him as he did.

Cheyenne squealed behind her. "That was the cutest thing EVER! I tried to stop Van, mom, I really did."

Reba looked at her daughter and son-in-law and smiled. "I'm not mad."

The kids were taken aback. But then Van crossed his arms and said, "Good. Then you won't mind answering a few questions."

Reba's smile hardened slightly. But she was in too good a mood to be annoyed. "Don't push me, Van. I'm tired. Goodnight, you two." and Reba fairly floated up the stairs.

Cheyenne and Van looked at each other, open-mouthed.

"I have SO much to tell Barbara Jean!" Cheyenne said with excitement.

Reba shut her bedroom door and leaned against it, sighing happily. There was no doubt in her mind that this was the most perfect night ever. She was exhausted, but she felt like dancing around her room like a teenaged girl who just talked to her newest crush. Reba held up the rose that Narvel had given her to her cheek and rubbed the soft petals against her face. Then Reba slowly went through her nightly routine, thinking through her night with Narvel. She giggled a couple of times before sliding into her bed. She checked her phone and saw a text from Narvel.

"Thank you for stunning me with your gorgeous presence tonight. I'll call you tomorrow. Night, beautiful."

Reba grinned and replied, "Thank you for making tonight amazing. Goodnight, Prince Charming."

Reba set her phone and the rose on her nightstand, rolled over, and fell into a peaceful sleep.


	15. Chapter 15

Narvel held Reba close as they slow danced. He could hardly believe it had only been a month since he'd started dating her. As corny as it sounded, Narvel felt that somehow, Reba had always been a part of his life. They already knew each other so well. And, he thought to himself, whatever he didn't know about her already, he had a burning desire to learn. Narvel didn't think he could ever get tired of learning more about this breathtaking woman. He looked down at her head resting on his chest, marveling at how beautiful she was. She had her hair up in a loose bun, with a few strands of hair framing her face. She wore a form-fitting black dress with off the shoulder straps, giving him a perfect view of the adorable freckles that graced her shoulders.

"Funny," Narvel thought as they swayed back and forth. "I never thought of freckles as attractive until I met Reba. Now they drive me almost as crazy as her kiss. A lot of things have changed about me since I've known Reba..."

The music was over before he could dwell on that thought, and Reba pulled him back towards their table.

"Gosh," she said to him as they sat down. "I haven't danced since, well, I can't even remember when!"

"Well, you are the best dance partner I've ever had." Narvel complimented as he took her hand.

Reba blushed slightly. "Well thanks. You weren't so bad yourself."

They smiled at each other for a moment, when Narvel, on an impulse, said, "Let's go to a park."

Reba looked at him in surprise. "A park? Why would you want to go to a park?"

He shrugged. "It's romantic, isn't it? We'll be alone."

Reba giggled. "Well I suppose..."

"Then come on!" Narvel jumped up and pulled her from her seat. He paid the bill and excitedly took Reba to his car.

Reba laughed at him all the way there. When he got excited, he acted just like a little boy. Reba found it adorable.

They sat in the car for a moment. "So, what park do you like? I don't know enough places around here yet." Narvel asked.

Reba thought. "Well, there was a really nice park that we would always go to-"

"Great!" Narvel started the car. "Where's it at?"

Reba directed him all the way there, and in less than 15 minutes, they arrived.

"Oh, it's just like I remembered." Reba's smile was huge.

Narvel looked at her face and he had to catch his breath. In the moonlight, she really did look like an angel.

Reba took him around the park. There was a pretty lake, a playground, a well kept pavilion, and benches everywhere. They sat down on one of the benches facing the lake in a comfortable silence.

"I love parks." Reba sighed happily.

"Why?" Narvel questioned.

"Well," Reba pondered for a minute. "it's peaceful. You can do a lot of different things here. It's a place you can take your whole family. It's romantic." she looked meaningfully at Narvel and laughed. "I just all around love it." Reba looked at Narvel and shrugged self-consciously. He hadn't taken his eyes off of her since they stepped out of the car.

Narvel suddenly adjusted his body so that he was laying on the bench, looking up into her sparkling eyes from her lap.

"Tell me a story." he said.

Laughing, Reba put her hand on his cheek. "What do want to hear?"

"Tell me your favorite memory from this park."

"Hmm," Reba took his hands and stared at them while she thought. All the while, Narvel laid there, gazing at her moonlit face.

"Well I guess one of my favorite times was when Brock and I took all three kids here. They were still young enough not to think it was stupid, but old enough that we had to keep them entertained." Reba got a far away look in her eyes. "The weather was perfect that day. We all got to have a picnic, swim in the lake, which Cheyenne ran from, screaming, because she felt fish tickling her feet. We even played a little bit of football. Brock and I tried to let the kids have a turn with the ball, but we're both so competitive, we ended up playing one on one." Reba laughed softly, then looked down at Narvel. "I have lots of great memories of this place. But tonight's memory definitely ranks high up there." Reba leaned down and kissed Narvel sweetly.

Narvel looked into her eyes after they broke off the kiss. "Do you miss that, Reba? Those perfect memories?" That thought had been weighing heavily on Narvel's mind for a while now, it made him nervous. But he finally felt it was the right moment to bring it up.

Reba had been thinking long and hard about this very question lately, so she was ready with her answer. "I did. I missed the family togetherness that we used to have. The way that my kids depended on me. I even missed the love that Brock and I had." Reba squeezed his hands. "But when I met you...suddenly, the future seemed like it could be even better than the past. And that's a feeling I haven't had in such a long time." Reba spoke with raw emotion, feeling tears prickling in her eyes. "I'll never forget all the wonderful things that I've experienced, but now instead of dwelling on what used to be, I can look forward to what could be." Reba finally stopped her speech and apologized in embarrassment. "Gosh I'm so cheesy. I'm sorry. Why're you such a good listener?" Reba tried to blink back tears.

Narvel let go of her hands and wiped a stray tear from her cheek. "I don't mind cheese. I like cheese." he echoed her past words, grinning. Which made Reba give him a watery smile back.

"Besides," Narvel continued. "That was probably the most...I don't even know how to describe how amazing you've just made me feel. I wish I could have recorded it. You couldn't have said anything to make me happier. Can I kiss you now?" he finished quickly.

Reba felt more tears coming, but she answered without a pause. "You don't even have to ask."

Narvel quickly pulled her to her feet and kissed her long and passionately till they we're forced to break away to breathe. He then kissed her more tenderly and held her close. "You look like an angel when you stand in the moonlight. Did you know that?"

Reba laughed. "No I didn't. No one's ever said that to me before. Is that why you kept staring at me?"

Narvel nodded, releasing her. "Your beauty holds me captive."

Reba laughed harder. "You think you're a regular southern Shakespeare, don't you?"

Narvel chuckled with her. "'Shall I compare thee to a summers day?'" he bowed to her with a flourish, making her giggle.

"Don't." Reba warned, trying to smother her laughter. "It's getting to be that time of night where I won't be able to stop laughing if I start!"

"'Hear my soul speak: The very instant that I saw you, did my heart fly to your service'!"

Reba's laugh rang through the park. Narvel couldn't help laugh when he heard Reba's laugh, so they both laughed until they collapsed on the bench. Then they would calm down, look at each other, and crack up all over again.

When they finally calmed down long enough to breathe, Reba asked Narvel, "You must have taken a drama class. Didn't you?"

Narvel shook his head and chuckled. "No. I was much too shy as a kid. My sister did, however. So I learned a couple of things." he chuckled again.

Reba laughed once more before reluctantly standing again. "I have a feeling my keepers at my house will be worried about me."

Narvel hoisted himself up and Reba grabbed his hand hand immediately, with a big smile still on her face.

"Yeah, I suppose we don't want to keep them waiting. Van might have a heart attack." Narvel said, grinning.

Narvel drove them to her house, and in all too short a time, they pulled into the driveway.

They sat in the car a little while longer, as had become habit after every date.

"So," Reba started nervously. "Do you think maybe for our next date, you would like to come and officially meet all my family?"

Narvel broke out into a large grin. He kissed Reba's lips and answered, "Absolutely. I would love to."

"Really?" Reba breathed out in relief. "This means everyone, you know. Jake; Elizabeth, Brock, Barbara Jean, Kyra-"

"Yes. I would love it. I've heard so much about them! When?"

Reba was happy to see him get so excited. "Well, today is Thursday, and I'll need a couple days for lectures, so how about Saturday?"

Narvel chuckled at her lectures comment, but answered quickly. "Saturday would be fantastic. What time?"

"Dinner time sound good?"

"Yep!" he kissed her again. Reba smiled when they separated.

"I hope the kids will be as excited as you!" she laughed.

"Even if they're not, I'll try to convince them to be." Narvel teased.

"They'll love you. How could they not?" Reba gave him a long kiss. "We'd better get out now. I can tell by the lights inside that the kids haven't gone to sleep yet."

Narvel got out of the car and immediately went around and opened the door for her. "It's past midnight. They sure do worry about you."

"Yeah," Reba answered. "it's sweet and annoying all at once." she grinned at Narvel.

They walked together to her door before kissing one last time.

"I'll see you tomorrow."

Narvel nodded. "Night, Red."

Narvel waited until she went into her house and shut the door before leaving.

Reba locked the door and turned to see Van and Cheyenne passed out on the couch. She smiled and shook her head. These two were crazy.

Reba shook Cheyenne's shoulder. "Cheyenne, honey, wake up."

Cheyenne jerked awake, then seeing her mom, she smiled. "How was your date, mom?" she asked sleepily.

"Amazing, as usual. How about you wake up Van and y'all go upstairs. It's probably more comfortable then this." Reba gestured at Van, who was almost laying on top of the blonde.

Cheyenne nodded and started waking up Van while Reba walked up to her bedroom. Once she was in her pajamas and comfortably tucked in her sheets, she checked her phone.

"Sleep well, gorgeous."

Reba broke out into a big smile and sighed happily. He made her feel so giddy, so appreciated, so happy, so...loved. Love, Reba mused as he snuggled deeper in the covers. She remembered how long she and Brian went out, but she was never able to truthfully say she loved him. Jack, she hadn't spent as much time with, but still, she never once thought she actually loved him. But Narvel, oh Narvel. Reba knew that she couldn't just say she liked him anymore. Seeing him everyday, working so closely with him, going on these beyond perfect dates with him, it brought an emotion that went past just liking someone. Or even lusting after someone. It was love. Reba sighed again. She loved him. She knew she did. But with that realization came fear. What if he didn't love her back? What if he was just using her as a rebound after Lisa? What if he left her for someone younger? After all, it happened to her once, it could easily happen again. Reba's heart constricted painfully just thinking about these things. No. That couldn't be true. Narvel wouldn't ever do that. Would he? Reba looked back down at her phone.

"Sleep well, gorgeous." she read again. He was so sweet. He could have any girl he wanted. What if he got bored with her?

"No." Reba whispered out loud. He wouldn't. She wouldn't be able to bear it if he did.

Reba forced herself to stop thinking about it, and instead answered him.

"You too, Narvel."

Reba scrolled through their past texts, smiling through them all. She felt more reassured after that. But that night, for the first night since she and Narvel started dating, her sleep was restless.

_I haven't thanked y'all for your AMAZING reviews, so I'll do that now. Thank you so much! It means so much to me that you're enjoying my story. So thanks again and I hope you continue to enjoy it!_


	16. Chapter 16

Reba arrived at work the next day a little late. She slept through her alarm and had to rush around to get herself ready. At the same time, Brock and Barbara Jean burst through her back door arguing, Jake needed help with homework, and Elizabeth was missing a shoe. All that mixed with the thoughts she had last night made for a pretty irritable Reba. All she could think about from the moment she woke up was that Narvel would leave her for someone prettier, or younger, or someone who didn't have as much baggage as she did. The fear grew and grew until she couldn't think of anything else.  
>"Didn't get to eat breakfast. Now I'll probably starve till lunch. And I'll bet I look like the Bride of Frankenstein." Reba kept complaining to herself as she walked towards her office. When she opened the door she put her stuff down without looking up.<br>"What do we have for today?" Reba asked Narvel in a clipped tone. She finally raised her eyes to see a bagel, cream cheese, and a cup of coffee sitting neatly on her desk in front of a concerned looking Narvel.  
>"Are you alright?" He moved towards her. "You didn't answer my text, so I figured you were running late or something. I brought you some breakfast in case you didn't eat."<br>Reba almost broke into tears right there. How could one person be perfect? How could she go back to a life without Narvel? She couldn't.  
>Reba gulped and stared at Narvel as he came closer, his worried look becoming more prominent.<br>Narvel put a hand to Reba's forehead and cheek. "You sick? You don't feel hot or anything." he peered into her eyes. "What's wrong, honey?"  
>Then Reba did break down into tears. Narvel looked startled, but when Reba flew into his arms, sobbing, he immediately pulled her close and murmured soothing things in her ear.<br>Reba couldn't deal with his ridiculously handsome face, his thoughtfulness, his sweet kisses. Not when all she could think about was how she might lose him just like she had lost Brock.  
>Eventually Reba's tears subsided, and she wiped her face, embarrassed that she was crying like that in front of Narvel.<br>"Thank you." Reba said to Narvel softly.  
>"Of course." he looked at her with tenderness in his eyes. "Can you tell me what's wrong?"<br>"It's nothing." Reba answered, avoiding his probing eyes. How was she supposed to tell him she was scared out of her wits that he would leave her? They hadn't even said "I love you" to each other! They had only been dating for a month. He couldn't be nearly as attached to her as she was to him. No. She couldn't say anything to him about this.  
>Narvel studied her. "It doesn't look like nothing. But listen," he lifted her chin with a finger so he could see her eyes. "You can tell me anything, you know. Whenever you're ready."<br>Reba nodded and gave him a small smile.  
>"Good. Now," Narvel gestured to the desk. "the bagel might be a little cold. But the coffee is still warm. Did you eat?"<br>Reba shook her head and moved to sit in her chair in front of the food. "This was so thoughtful of you, Narvel. Thank you." She smiled for real at him now, trying hard to push her depressing thoughts away.  
>Narvel was relieved. He didn't like to see her cry. "I'm glad. Will you be ok for the open houses today?"<br>Reba nodded and took a sip of her coffee. "I love Starbucks coffee! How did you know?"  
>Narvel put his head down in shame. "I asked Cheyenne. She's kinda my emergency help line."<br>Reba laughed at him. "Well thanks anyway. Even if you did use your help line."  
>"You're welcome." He watched her eat a minute before remembering. "Oh! Do you know today it's been exactly a month since we went on our first date? Not including our prep-dates, of course." Narvel winked.<br>"Yes I do." Reba's smile faltered, but she took a bite out of her bagel to disguise it. "Why do you ask?"  
>"Well," he carefully took a rose out of the pocket of his suit. Some of the petals had fallen off and the rose was slightly squished, thanks to Reba's crying session. But it was a beautiful, fully bloomed red rose. Just like the one he gave her on their first date. Narvel handed it over the desk to Reba with his cute, half-smile. "Happy one month anniversary?" he made it into a question at the end, not sure if once again, he had been too corny.<br>Reba almost cried again, but she controlled herself and took the rose delicately. "It's beautiful, Narvel. You're too thoughtful."  
>Reba stood up and pressed her lips to his sweetly. After a moment Reba sat back down. She couldn't dwell on her painful thoughts. She had to work. "So, besides those open houses, we have those clients to call, right?"<br>Narvel and Reba switched into business mode and began working together, almost forgetting about the tears that were shed that morning.  
>The incident came back to Narvel's mind as he drove back to his condo that day. It worried him that there was something going on with Reba that she didn't want to share with him. Maybe he was imagining their closeness. Maybe Reba didn't feel the same way about him that he felt for her.<br>And what did he feel for her?  
>He loved her.<br>There was no doubt in his mind. She was the one who filled his thoughts, day and night. She was the one he wanted to spend the rest of his life with. But Narvel didn't see how he could tell Reba that. Those kinds of feelings were supposed to develop over a long period of time. Not within months of knowing each other. Right? He and Lisa dated for a year before they started getting really serious.  
>However, with Reba, Narvel had felt a spark of love since the very first day they bumped into each other. That spark had been fanned into a burning flame of desire to never be apart from her again. It kind of unnerved him, how quickly he had fallen for Reba, but he knew he wasn't imagining anything. Except maybe what she felt about him. He knew Reba liked him at the very least. She wasn't the kind of person to lead someone on. But now he wondered if that like would be able to turn into love.<br>"Well," Narvel thought determinedly. "If I have to spend the rest of my life trying to make her fall in love with me, I will."

Saturday morning Reba woke up feeling slightly better than the day before. At least, she didn't feel like she was about to cry at the drop of a hat. She quickly got up and started getting ready for the dinner that night.  
>"Next!" Reba yelled. She dismissed Jake from her presence and called Kyra in for her lecture.<br>Kyra walked in, annoyed that she had to be there. "Can you do this quickly, cause I've got practice in 30 minutes."  
>"As long as you listen and promise to do everything I say, no it won't take long." Reba responded, and then she immediately went into her speech about her expectations for the night, why they all had to be on their best behavior or so help her she would turn them over and spank them, etc.<br>Kyra listened to her mom and studied her the whole time. When Reba finished, Kyra said abruptly. "You really like this guy."  
>Reba looked taken aback. She didn't expect Kyra to say anything except, "Ok, bye."<br>"Yeah I do like him. He's probably the sweetest man I've ever met, he pushes me to be better than I am, especially at work. And I know I always have his support. What's not to lo-like?" Reba winced at her slip.  
>Kyra nodded. "I can't wait to see him, you make him sound like an angel." she stood up. "I'll be back in time."<br>Reba smiled at her daughter as she left. Then sighed and rubbed her temples. That was everyone. Time to clean.

The door bell rang at around 6pm. Reba did last minute check ups with everyone nervously.  
>"Ok. This is it." She gave everyone the "you better behave" look and opened the door.<br>"Hey there." Reba smiled at him as she ushered him in.  
>Narvel immediately smiled charmingly at the family. They were all lined up, standing straight.<br>"At ease, soldiers." Narvel laughed, looking at how stiff they were.  
>Van laughed with him and broke the awkward silence with a clap on Narvel's shoulder.<br>"You gotta stay for the game tonight. They'll be playing Jets and-"  
>Reba interrupted him. "Before y'all start talking about football," she threw a look at Van. "I'll introduce you to some of the family you haven't met yet."<br>Reba put a hand on Jake's shoulder, "This is Jake, Jake this is Narvel, my co-worker. And Narvel this is my other daughter, Kyra." Kyra gave him a small smile. "and this is my granddaughter, Elizabeth." Elizabeth peeked at Narvel from behind Cheyenne's legs before shyly retreating once more.  
>"It's so great to meet y'all. Reba talks about you non-stop." he smiled at them all.<br>"What's in the bags?" Jake asked, noticing the Wal-Mart bags Narvel was carrying.  
>"Oh! I hope you don't mind Reba, but I brought some ice cream and other things to make ice cream Sundays. Is that alright?"<br>"It's more than alright! It's great!" Jake exclaimed.  
>"It's fine, Narvel. Thank you. Jake, why don't you show him where to put all the things away?"<br>"Sure!" Jake led him to the kitchen, talking to Narvel about his favorite kinds of ice cream.  
>Van and Cheyenne sat on the couches and started playing with Elizabeth, waiting for the call to go sit at the table and eat.<br>Reba breathed out in relief. Jake seemed to like him already. She looked at Kyra with her eyebrows raised.  
>Kyra, knowing what her mother was secretly asking, nodded and said, "Despite his weird name, he brought ice cream, he's gotta be decent." and she went and sat by Cheyenne.<br>Reba's smile turned huge. Getting Kyra's approval wasn't easy. Now for the next challenge. Brock and Barbara Jean would get there anytime now.  
>The door flew open as the couple that had just been in her thoughts stormed in. They weren't talking, but Reba could tell they had just been in an argument.<br>"If you guys embarrass me I will strangle you both. Understand?" Reba threatened.  
>The two nodded meekly. Then Barbara Jean heard Narvel's voice coming from the kitchen.<br>"He's here! Oh does he look good? Does he smell good? What's he wearing?" Barbara Jean excitedly tried to make her way to the kitchen, but Reba blocked her way.  
>"Park it." Reba ordered, pointing to one of the seats.<br>Barbara Jean pouted, but obeyed, plopping herself in the chair impatiently. "Well get him to come over here so I can stare at him."  
>Reba shook her head, but motioned for Brock to come with her as she walked into the kitchen.<br>"He brought stuff for ice cream Sundays." Reba explained. She stopped in the entrance and grinned as she watched Jake and Narvel together.  
>Narvel and Jake were arranging toppings on the counter, and Narvel was explaining why the order they were put in was important.<br>"Because you can't put whipped cream or cherries on before you put the chocolate syrup. So what you do is, chocolate syrup, gummy worms, whipped cream, cherries. Those are the good ones. I don't like peanuts so I don't care where they go."  
>"I don't like peanuts either!" Jake said. He put them in the order Narvel told him and stepped back to look at it.<br>"There we go." Narvel said to the boy. "Now we can efficiently create the best Sundays the world has ever known."  
>"They're gonna be great! I gotta go tell Van." Jake ran off to tell his brother-in-law. "Oh, hey dad." he stopped to hug Brock before rushing off again.<br>Narvel finally noticed his audience and moved towards them, his half smile in place.  
>"He's a real nice kid. Talkative." Narvel complimented.<br>"He is." Reba gave him a sweet smile that made Narvel's heart beat faster. But before he could act on it, Brock cleared his throat.  
>"Oh, right." Reba looked away from Narvel's warm eyes and made the introductions. "Brock, this is Narvel Blackstock, Narvel, Brock."<br>Narvel held out his hand and Brock grasped it firmly as they shook hands.  
>"I've heard you like to golf?" Navel inquired.<br>"It's my favorite pastime." Brock answered.  
>"I've gone golfing a few times with my dad, but I completely stink up the place when I do. I think I really embarrass him." The men both chuckled. "Think you could give me some pointers?"<br>Brock's chest swelled with pride. "Well, sure. I go almost every Saturday. Just let me know when you're free and we can go together."  
>"Sounds good, man." Narvel smiled, and Brock went back to sit with Barbara Jean.<br>Narvel turned to Reba, and lighting his full smile on her, he said. "You look absolutely beautiful."  
>Reba's heart melted and she did what she had been longing to since he walked through the door. She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him passionately.<br>Narvel had to pull away, reminding himself that her children were in the very next room. He was breathing a little hard. "What was that for? Not that I'm complaining."  
>"You're such a people person. You know exactly what to say to disarm them." Reba was amazed at how well the kids liked him, and how quickly he had gotten Brock to approve of him.<br>"Well, I'm not called one of the best realtors in Texas for nothing. It's my job." he winked.  
>Reba laughed. "And you're so good at it." she kissed him one more time before removing herself from his embrace.<br>"I've got to put the food on the table, and then we can eat!" she moved to do just that.  
>"Need any help?" Narvel offered.<br>"Sure. Just carry these in there for me." Reba handed him a bowl filled with salad and another bowl of mashed potatoes.  
>Reba brought the ham out, and the whole family began coming to the table. They all sat down to say the blessing, and then they dug in.<br>Compliments were said around the table, making Reba turn a bit pink in the cheeks.  
>"Delicious!"<br>"So good!"  
>"Really yummy, thanks mom."<br>"Amazing, Reba."  
>Narvel, who was sitting beside her, found her hand and squeezed it gently.<br>"Everything tastes great, I should have made you cook for me sooner!" he joked.  
>Reba laughed. For once, she didn't worry about her feelings or Narvel's feelings. Her anxiety vanished as she enjoyed everyone's company. She especially loved watching Narvel with little Elizabeth. He finally got her talking to him, after a very clever bribe involving gummy worms, and played with her while watching and discussing the football game with Van and Brock.<br>Reba spoke with Kyra, Barbara Jean, and Cheyenne, but mostly kept her eyes on Narvel. He fit into their close knit family so well. And they had only just met him! It made Reba's heart want to burst with pride. Gosh, she loved him.  
>With that thought, the doubts that had plagued her mind before came rushing back. Reba wished she could banish them from her mind completely. Narvel was here, he was making his best efforts to get along with her family, doing an amazing job of it, and she still couldn't stop thinking he was going to leave her? It was silly. But despite thinking this, she still worried.<br>Reba stood up and announced that it was time for Sundays. She didn't want to think about those pestering doubts.  
>A chorus of "yay"'s and "whoohoo"'s followed Reba as she walked into the kitchen and took out the ice cream from the freezer.<br>"Don't mess up the order, mom! It's important." Jake reminded her.  
>Reba chuckled but made sure she put everything in the right place.<br>"Alright," Reba stepped out of the way. "Have at it."  
>Her family immediately swarmed the counter, calling out what they wanted in loud voices.<br>Reba stood back with Narvel and watched, laughing. She looked at Narvel.  
>"This really was so sweet of you, Narvel. How do you think of these things?"<br>Narvel shrugged. "I like ice cream, I figured they would too." he smiled at her.  
>Reba shook her head. "I don't know how I got so lucky with you." she said quietly.<br>Narvel took her hands. "No. Trust me. You're looking at the lucky one." he pressed his lips to hers gently, trying to convey all his tenderness into his kiss.  
>A wolf whistle interrupted their moment. Cheyenne and Barbara Jean were awww-ing and Van winked at Narvel.<br>Reba turned beet red and stepped away from Narvel. "Carry on!" them waved to them briskly.  
>"Yeah. Nothing to see here." Narvel said, suppressing a laugh.<br>"Uh huh," Van walked over to the couple and gave them a look. "Not with the kids around, 'kay?"  
>Reba slapped his arm. "Oh hush. Come on, Narvel. Let's get our Sundays."<br>Narvel laughed, but followed behind her.  
>After they got their ice cream they joined the rest of the family in the living room. They all talked to each other for a while. Discussing their jobs, Cheyenne's school, and telling Narvel random funny family memories. Which kept them all laughing and in good spirits.<br>As it got later they started noticing the frequent yawns coming from the children, so they decided to call it quits for the night.  
>"Thanks for the ice cream, Narvel." Jake said after giving his mom a hug.<br>"No problem, buddy." Narvel smiled and watched him as he sleepily trudged up the stairs.  
>Elizabeth was next. She hugged Reba, then to everyone's surprise she went over to Narvel and hugged him as well. "Night, Nawel." she said in her adorable baby voice.<br>"Night, honey." he answered her, a big grin spreading across his face. He kept an eye on her as Cheyenne took her upstairs.  
>Narvel then stood up and shook Brock and Van's hand.<br>"Thanks for a great night, guys." Narvel said to them.  
>"Anytime, man." Brock answered. "Just call me up when you want to go golfing."<br>"Will do." Narvel looked at Reba. "You gonna walk me to my car?"  
>"Absolutely." Reba smiled and led him out.<br>They walked to the car slowly, trying to make the night last a little longer.  
>"I can't tell you what it means to me." Reba started. "To get along with my family, I mean. Seeing you interact with Jake and Elizabeth, it made me so beyond happy."<br>Narvel leaned against his black SUV and answered truthfully, "Your family is a delight. They're so much fun! Jake is such a nice boy, and Elizabeth's the cutest little thing I've ever seen. How could I not like them?"  
>Reba couldn't control herself any more. She threw her arms around Narvel's neck and kissed him with all her might. Their kisses grew heated quickly, and before she knew it, Reba was being pressed up against the car, losing herself in their passionate embrace.<br>Reba knew they had to stop before she lost all control. She pulled away from Narvel's intoxicating lips and hugged him tightly, breathing hard.  
>"Wow." was all Narvel could get out.<br>Reba chuckled. "I think I was trying to say thank you. But I kinda got carried away."  
>"Well, you're welcome. I've gotta bring ice cream more often if this is the kind of thanks I get." he teased her.<br>Reba laughed and relaxed in Narvel's arms.  
>He began stroking her hair gently, nearly making Reba fall asleep right where she stood. She stirred and let go of Narvel reluctantly, knowing she had to get back inside before her family came looking for her.<br>"You should probably go." she said to Narvel, giving him a cute smile.  
>Narvel nodded. "Have a good night, Red." he gave her a small kiss and got into his car.<br>Reba stepped back and watched his car pull out, waving until he disappeared.  
>After cleaning the clearing the table and washing the dirty dishes, Reba tiredly made her way up the stairs.<br>Once she was in her bed, she reflected on the night. It really did fill her with joy when she thought about how great he had been with everyone. There was never a hint of awkwardness throughout the night. Her family was the most important thing to her and Reba didn't know what she would have done if they hadn't liked Narvel.  
>She yawned sleepily and her thoughts started blurring as she fell into a deep sleep.<p> 


	17. Chapter 17

The weeks went on, sweet and wonderful, in both Narvel and Reba's mind.  
>Reba's worries persisted, but she did her best to forget about them. It was an easy and difficult task all at the same time. Easy because Narvel made her feel amazing. Like she was the most important thing to him all the time. Difficult, because the more Reba spent time with him, the more deeply she fell in love with him. Falling in love is a wonderful feeling, but when you're not sure if the subject of your love feels the same way, it can be torturous.<br>"Is there something wrong, Reba?" Narvel asked her, startling her from her thoughts.  
>"No," she answered, confused. "Why do you ask?"<br>"You keep staring at me." Narvel said with a half smile.  
>Reba thought furiously, trying to cover up her embarrassment. She hadn't realized she'd be so open about her scrutiny. "Well, I-I, wouldn't say staring, more like looking into space, just thinking."<br>"The space that is around my general vicinity, right?" Narvel smiled at her wryly.  
>"Yes." Reba answered decidedly, knowing he was teasing her.<br>Narvel looked at the clock. "Well, we don't have much else to do, and it's basically time to leave, so I say we can go home now."  
>Reba chuckled again. "I like your logic."<br>The two finished up what they were doing and within 10 minutes, were already heading out the door. In the parking lot, Reba leaned against the door of her car, waiting for Narvel to tell her what his plans were for the next day. This quickly became one of their habits, standing outside of their work and deciding what the next date would be.  
>"What do you think about going on a picnic? On the lake?" Narvel suggested.<br>Reba raised her eyebrow and teased. "That sounds very romantic! Even for you!"  
>"Well, I have been brushing up on my "What Makes A Woman Melt" techniques." he answered slyly. "Is it working?"<br>"You never needed help with that and you know it." Reba leaned forward and kissed him sweetly.  
>Narvel smiled into their kiss and brought her closer to him.<br>"So, yes?" Narvel kept his arms around her waist even after they pulled apart.  
>"Yes." Reba smiled up at him. "Do you want me to pack the lunch?"<br>"Only if you'd like to."  
>"Of course! What do you think we should have? How about some big ol roast beef sandwiches?" Reba proposed.<br>"Sounds delicious." Narvel grinned. "I'll bring fruit and drinks, and you bring the sandwiches and chips. Deal?"  
>"Deal." Reba agreed.<br>"You gotta seal it with a kiss before it's official." Narvel said, closing his eyes expectantly.  
>Reba chuckled a bit, but obliged him. Raising herself on her tip-toes and wrapping her arms around his neck, she kissed his waiting lips with a passion. Narvel's hands moved up and down her back, making Reba's whole body feel tingly.<br>Narvel broke the kiss off and pressed his cheek to hers. "Man, am I glad you're my partner." he breathed out.  
>Reba laughed quietly in his ear. "I'm glad you are too." Reba pulled away and looked into his eyes. The little voice in the back of her head started speaking, in it's annoying, persuasive voice, "You better stop it before you tell him how much you love him. He's not ready to hear it. You don't want to scare him off, do you?"<br>Reba blinked and looked down, certain that if she gazed at him any longer, he'd see her pain and conflict in her eyes.  
>"Alrighty, so what time do I need to be ready by?" Reba stepped away from him and tried to make her voice as normal as possible, despite her constricted throat.<br>Narvel was a little surprised with her behavior, but decided to let it go, for now.  
>"I think 11 would be good. It takes a good 20 minutes to get there."<br>"11 sounds great. I'll be ready." Reba smiled gently at him.  
>"Right. That means I'll be waiting at least 15 minutes." Narvel teased.<br>Reba rolled her eyes playfully and opened her car door. "I do not keep you waiting!"  
>"Whatever you say, Red." Narvel smirked and watched her get in her car.<br>"You're ridiculous." Reba told him, as she started the car.  
>"But you like it." Narvel winked and got out of her way.<br>Reba just stuck her tongue out at him and rolled her window up as she pulled out of the parking lot. She waved to him again and sighed quietly to herself, "If only you knew just how much I like you."

Reba came home to an empty house. She sighed and put up her purse. She rested her elbows on the kitchen counter and listened to the silence. It was so rarely quiet that she sometimes forgot what silence sounded like.  
>The back door suddenly flew open as a large blonde barged in.<br>"And that's about as long as any quiet time lasts." Reba thought grimly to herself.  
>"Barbara Jean," Reba asked in a tired voice. "What do you want?"<br>"Why do you always assume that I want something? I just came over to talk to my best friend!" Barbara Jean grinned and lightly punched Reba's shoulder.  
>Reba glared at her until she backed away.<br>"Um, where are all the kids?" Barbara Jean asked, figuring it would be a safe subject.  
>"Jake is at a friend's house, Van and Cheyenne took Elizabeth to the park, and Kyra is at the library. What's it to you?"<br>The blonde looked a little hurt. "What's gotten into you today?" Barbara Jean studied Reba, concerned. "Oh no. Did you and Narvel fight?"  
>Reba turned away from her. "I don't want to talk about my day."<br>"Oh no." Barbara Jean sat down with a knowing look. "What did he do?"  
>"He didn't DO anything, Barbara Jean." Reba snapped. Once again, Barbara Jean got that sad puppy dog look on her face, and Reba knew she needed to apologize.<br>"Look," she started. "I'm sorry. I'm just...feeling conflicted."  
>"About what?" Barbara Jean's face transformed immediately. Instantly becoming happy and paying close attention to Reba's words. "Was he looking at another woman? Did he insult you? Was he trying to go too far with you?!" Barbara Jean's voice got higher and more irritating by the second.<br>"No!" Reba stopped her. "It's not him, it's me." she took a deep breath. Maybe she just needed to talk to someone, and as annoying as Barbara Jean could be, she was always willing to listen. "I think-no, no, I *know* that I'm, well, I'm," Reba gulped. "I'm in love with him." she finished quickly.  
>Barbara Jean squealed and ran around the counter to give Reba a hug.<br>"Ah!" Reba exclaimed in surprise. "Barbara Jean," she said in a strangled voice.  
>"Oh right, right. You can't breathe." Barbara Jean let go, barely containing her excitment. "Oh Reba, this is exactly what I was hoping for! Somehow I knew, from the very first time I saw you together, that you were meant to be! I knew it! But," she asked. "why are you acting as if this were a bad thing?"<br>"Because!" Reba threw her hands up and paced around. "I don't know if he loves me back! And I can't say anything, because what if he doesn't feel the same way? He only recently got out of a divorce, what if he's not ready to fully move on yet? What if I freak him out with how quickly I've fallen for him? If I said anything to him about loving him, and he didn't feel the same way, it would scare him off! There are plenty of women, younger women, who would love to have a man like him. What if he decides he doesn't want me anymore? I just can't," her voice softened to a painful whisper. "I wouldn't be able to bear it if he left me too."  
>"Aw, Reba." Barbara Jean hugged her again, but this time Reba didn't move away.<br>"I don't know what to do. It's strange. With Brock it took years as good friends before we were ever anything serious. But this happened so quickly. Like one of those crazy "love at first sight" deals. And I don't know what to think about it." Reba finally shook off Barbara Jean's arms gently and sat down.  
>"Well let me tell you something, peaches." Barbara Jean pointed at Reba sternly. "If that man doesn't love you to the moon and back already, he's crazier than me! Times 5!"<br>Reba cracked a smile.  
>"Now, if you ask me, I'd say Narvel really is in love with you."<br>Reba looked up at her with hope. "You really think so?"  
>"Absolutely! He has stars in his eyes every time he looks at you."<br>Reba blushed. "I don't know about that..."  
>"Well I do." Barbara Jean said firmly. "And I think you should tell him."<br>"Tell him I've been madly in love with him almost as soon as we started working together? Tell him that I've never felt the way I do about him with anyone else? After just 2, almost 3 months of being with him? Are you kidding? I'll sound like an over-attached crazy person!"  
>"No. You'll be telling him what you feel. He needs to hear that!" Barbara Jean insisted.<br>"I don't think so, Barbara Jean."  
>The blonde shrugged. "Alright. Have it your way. But if you keep holding this stuff in, it could come between you." she warned.<br>Reba kept silent and turned away from Barbara Jean. She was afraid Barbara Jean was right. Reba was sure Narvel noticed her distance. He wasn't stupid. But Reba was even more afraid that telling him she loved him too soon could push him away as well. Reba shook her head in an attempt to clear her thoughts.  
>"So how are you and Brock doing?" Reba asked Barbara Jean, changing the subject.<br>Barbara Jean eyed her friend for a moment, but decided to let it go. "Things are getting better. We're actually doing pretty good. The other day in therapy..."  
>Reba listened to Barbara Jean as she prepared herself some dinner. Better to be thinking about someone else's troubles than her own.<p>

"Buzzzzzz!"  
>Reba groaned and cracked open one eye to glance at her alarm clock. 8:30. She would have to get up to start getting ready for her date. Thinking about Narvel and his sweet plan for the day helped her to wake up. She opened both eyes and stretched before hopping out of bed and into the shower.<br>Later, she stood in front of the two outfits she had picked. One was a light colored sun dress that went to her knees, the other was a pair of white shorts and a bright blue top with delicate flowing short sleeves. Reba chewed her lip. She really liked the sundress, but it was just so normal. She never wore shorts. She just never felt comfortable in them. But maybe she could wear them today. Just as a special occasion. It was supposed to be hot today as well.  
>"Oh just forget it. I'm gonna do it." Reba grabbed the shorts and top and changed into them quickly before she could change her mind. Reba then put on matching blue earrings and white flip flops to finish up.<br>Reba checked herself in the mirror, looking critically at all angles. She was finally satisfied enough and emerged from her room to go make the sandwiches.  
>As Reba was getting the sandwich meats and cheese from the fridge, she heard a whistle coming from behind her. Straightening, she saw a surprised looking Cheyenne.<br>"Wow, mom. I didn't even have to try to convince you to wear shorts, you just did?"  
>"Yes, Cheyenne. I can make decisions, you know." Reba said dryly.<br>"I know, but wow! You need to wear those more often. You've actually got a nice pair of legs under those jeans you wear all the time!"  
>"Thank you. Now can we stop talking about my legs?" Reba pretended to be focused on the sandwiches so she didn't look so embarrassed.<br>"Sure, I guess. What are you and Narvel doing today?"  
>"We're going to go have a picnic on the lake." Reba answered, starting to layer the sandwiches with cheese.<br>"Aw, how romantic!" Cheyenne squealed.  
>"I know." Reba smiled briefly.<br>"And you lookin' all cute and stuff." Cheyenne said in a suggestive tone.  
>Reba just looked at her daughter. "Don't even go there."<br>Cheyenne shrugged. "Well, good outfit choice. Van and I are going to take Elizabeth to the zoo again with Jake, Dad, Barbara Jean, and Henry. The kids just can't get enough of it! And by kids I mean including Van."  
>Reba and Cheyenne shared a laugh. "Alright, bye honey." Reba hugged her and Cheyenne left the kitchen. "Don't forget sunscreen!" Reba called after her.<br>As Reba was finishing up, Jake came into the kitchen with a pouty face.  
>"Why do I have to go to the zoo?" he asked, sitting on one of the chairs.<br>"Because Jake, I'm going to be gone and I wanted to make sure you weren't alone. It was either the zoo or have Kyra watch you."  
>Jake's eyes widened. "You know, I kind of like the zoo."<br>Reba chuckled.  
>"Are you going out with Narvel?" Jake asked.<br>"Yep." Reba smiled at him.  
>Jake nodded and watched her as she wrapped up the sandwiches. "Tell him I said hi! And that he needs to bring the video games he keeps telling me about next time he comes over."<br>"I will." Reba's smile grew. "You really like him, don't you?"  
>Jake nodded seriously. "I give you permission to like him." and then he ran out of the kitchen.<br>Reba's mouth fell open and she laughed. He was something else.  
>The house became quiet after everybody said goodbye to Reba and left. Then the door bell rang at exactly 11:00, and Reba opened the door, smiling.<br>Narvel stood there, looking devilishly handsome in jeans and a nice t-shirt.  
>"Good morning." Reba said to him.<br>"Good morning." he repeated, in somewhat of a daze, looking at her legs.  
>"Hello?" Reba got in his line of vision, laughing at him.<br>"Oh," Narvel blinked and looked up. "I'm sorry. I've just never seen you in shorts before."  
>"That's understandable." Reba smirked and pulled Narvel into the house. Mission accomplished. "Are you going to help me bring the food out so we can leave?"<br>"You mean you're ready?" Narvel asked incredulously, following her to the kitchen.  
>"That's right. See? I do not make you wait." Reba said smugly.<br>"You just did it on purpose because you can't stand being challenged." Narvel teased.  
>"What?! That's ridicu..." she tried to defend herself, but Narvel knew her too well. She gave up and laughed sheepishly. "Ok. You got me."<br>Narvel took her hand and pulled her close to him. Putting his arm around her shoulders he said, "Yes I do." and he kissed her sweetly.  
>Reba pulled away and looked into his eyes happily. "We can have more of that later. We should at least leave first!"<br>"I'm holding you to that." Narvel said before letting her go.

A while later they arrived. It was a very pretty little lake, but hardly anyone knew about it, making it the perfect spot for a lunch date.  
>Reba looked around and saw a small boat tied to the main dock.<br>"There it is!" Reba said excitedly.  
>Narvel grinned and picked up the cooler that he brought. "I took the car to the other side of the lake yesterday and found a really nice spot for us." Narvel squinted up at the cloudless sky. "Luckily it's in the shade. Texas is really bringing the heat today."<br>The couple walked to the boat, hand in hand. Narvel set the cooler and the basket Reba packed in the center of the boat and motioned for Reba to hop in.  
>Reba hesitantly stepped in and settled down. Narvel went in after her and they shoved off.<br>"Are you sure you'll be ok rowing by yourself?" Reba asked, concerned. "You should have brought me a paddle!"  
>"I'll be fine, Red. Don't worry. And I couldn't make you paddle. What kind of man would I be?" Narvel paddled slowly, gaining momentum.<br>"A smart one." Reba said decidedly. "I know how to paddle."  
>"I have no doubt that you could, honey." Narvel answered her, and he left it at that.<br>Soon after, Reba took advantage of the fact that she didn't have to do any work, and not wanting to bother Narvel, just admired the beautiful view. The lake reflected the sky's gorgeous bright blue color, making the water sparkle and shine. But before long, the heat began to be oppressive. It really felt like it must have been 100 degrees, and Reba was ready to have something cool to drink. She looked up at Narvel and saw the poor man had sweat running down his face and he was breathing hard, but still he rowed.  
>Reba couldn't control herself. She started chuckling quietly, but when she saw Narvel look up questioningly and immediately start blinking because his sweat started falling into his eyes, her chuckles grew into loud peals of laughter.<br>"Wh-" Narvel tried to speak, but had to set down his paddle and breathe in.  
>Reba laughed all the more. "Are you-" More laughter. "Are you ok, Narvel?" she finally got out.<br>Narvel glared at her. "What is so funny?"  
>Reba suppressed her giggles in order to answer. "Here we are, trying to be all romantic, and what do we get for it? Heatstroke!" She cracked up once again, shaking the boat.<br>Narvel started chuckling too, unable to stay serious while listening to her giggles.  
>"Oh my goodness." Reba wiped the wetness from her eyes. "You know," she said, suddenly serious. "I only laugh this hard when I'm with you."<br>Narvel smiled. "I do know, actually. And if we weren't so far away from each other, I'd kiss you right now."  
>Reba let out another giggle. "Well you better start rowing again then."<br>Narvel groaned, but obeyed.  
>Thankfully, they were already almost to the other side, and it was less than 5 minutes when they reached the other dock.<br>Narvel got out first and quickly tied up the boat, then Reba handed him their basket and cooler.  
>"Your turn." Narvel smiled at Reba and held his hand out to her.<br>Reba took his hand and gasped in surprise when he pulled her toward him with force. Narvel kissed her passionately, cupping her face with his hand. Reba quickly got over her shock and kissed him back lovingly.  
>"There." Narvel said, after they broke apart. "Now I'm satisfied." he grinned.<br>Reba laughed and shook her head. "Just show me the way to our shade, Mr. Sweaty."  
>Reba followed Narvel off the dock and into the cool relief of the trees.<br>"Here it is!" Narvel announced. He set down the cooler and looked around.  
>"Oh Narvel. It is so beautiful here." Reba said happily. The trees provided the much needed coolness, but they didn't block the pretty view of the blue water.<br>"I'm glad you like it. And not to rush things, but I'm starving." Narvel looked hopefully at the basket in Reba's hands.  
>"A couple of roast beef sandwiches, coming up!" Reba laid down the blanket right in front of one of the larger trees, sat down, and started digging through the basket.<br>"Here you go," Reba handed Narvel his sandwich as he sat down next to her. "They should be nice and toasty after that boat ride." she giggled.  
>"Looks delicious." Narvel said. "Thank you, honey."<br>"Mhmm." Reba smiled at him and took out her own sandwich.  
>The two of them leaned against the tree and sat there in silence, staring at the lake and chewing their lunch happily.<br>"I've always wanted to live near a lake." Reba said.  
>Narvel nodded. "Me too. There's something so peaceful about it."<br>Reba smiled at him. "Exactly."  
>The two lapsed into silence again. Reba watched Narvel out of the corner of her eye and thought about what Barbara Jean had said last night. Did he actually love her? Should she tell him how she felt?<br>"Reba?" Narvel said.  
>"Hmm?" Reba turned to him.<br>"You should wear shorts more often."  
>Reba laughed. "You think so?"<br>"I know so." Narvel answered.  
>Reba laughed again and pulled out the chips. "Want some?"<br>Narvel nodded, but before Reba could hand him the bag, Narvel sat up and turned his body so that he could rest his head on Reba's lap.  
>"Ready." he said, opening his mouth.<br>"I'm supposed to feed you now?!" Reba asked playfully.  
>Narvel nodded with his mouth still open.<br>"You're so silly." Reba told him with a smile, but she fed him nonetheless.  
>"You're a prettier view to stare at anyway." Narvel said after chewing, making Reba turn a rosy color that was not entirely the sun's fault.<br>They stayed like that for a while, even after they stopped eating. They talked, they laughed, they kissed, everything was perfect. But even in the midst of the perfection, Reba still felt the pangs of doubt.  
>Finally, after they were about to leave, Reba said that she wanted to paddle at least part of the way back.<br>"No way." Narvel said immediately.  
>"Why not?" Reba protested.<br>"I don't want you paddling us, especially in this heat!" Narvel sat up. "I could barely do it."  
>"Because you're such an old man, right?" Reba teased him.<br>"Nah. I'm more concerned about protecting you in your delicate age."  
>Reba gasped and withdrew her hand from his and smacked him. "You butt!"<br>Narvel laughed and grabbed her hand before she could hit him again. "Reba, Reba. I was just kidding."  
>"You're mean." Reba pouted.<br>"You look like you're in your 30s, Reba. How could I ever be serious about that?" He kissed her cheek.  
>"But I'm not in my 30s." Reba said quietly.<br>Narvel studied her quickly. She was actually upset by his words. He scooted closer to her and wrapped his arm around her. "Honey, this is the honest truth. Listen close. You are ridiculously beautiful." Reba turned pink. "But really, I wouldn't even care if you were ugly and 60 years old. You would still have that amazing, caring, sweet, kind, fiery spirit that I lo-"  
>Reba looked up at him quickly. She felt like her heart had stopped beating. "That you what?" she whispered, barely breathing.<br>Narvel couldn't lie. Not to those big baby blues staring up at him. "That," he took a deep breath. "that I love."  
>Reba's eye were as big as saucers, she couldn't believe her ears. Was this real life?!<br>Narvel mistook her silence for a negative reaction and immediately started apologizing. "I'm sorry, Reba. I didn't mean to tell you so soon. I know you can't possibly feel the same way as I do, but that's ok." Narvel grasped her hand and looked earnestly into her eyes. "I don't mind. I don't mind it if I have to wait my whole life for you to fall in love with me. But please, please tell me that I haven't lost you."  
>All Reba could do was stare at him, speechless. After all that worrying, all that lack of sleep, all the moments she could have enjoyed more with him, it was all for nothing. Nothing! He loved her. Reba's heart soared with love for this man who's face was becoming more anxious by the second.<br>"Reba, please say something." Narvel begged.  
>Reba shook her head and smiled the biggest smile she could. "I love you too." she said softly.<br>Narvel seemed taken aback. "What?"  
>"I. Love. You." She repeated. "I've loved you for longer than you could probably guess."<br>Narvel let out a cross between a sigh and a whoop and pulled Reba to her feet.  
>"Say it again."<br>Reba giggled, feeling as if she was light enough to soar to the moon. "I love you, Narvel."  
>With that, Narvel kissed her in a way he never had before. He kissed her with all the love and passion he had kept bottled up inside of him, picking her up off her feet in joy. And Reba kissed him back with just as much love, wrapping her arms around him tightly and sinking into his embrace.<br>Not wanting to let go, Narvel gently sat her down on the ground without breaking their kiss, and buried his hands in her hair. Narvel felt like he could kiss Reba forever.  
>But of course, they eventually had to pull apart for oxygen. Reba stared into Narvel's eyes and could barely believe what was happening.<br>"You have no idea how long I've been so worried about this. I worried that if I said anything about my feelings that I would scare you off." Reba allowed herself to finally come clean. Feeling her burdens disappear. "And I knew that you could have any girl you wanted. And if I said one wrong thing, you wouldn't have any trouble finding someone else."  
>"Oh honey." Narvel stroked her face and kissed her again. "Never. Why would you think that?"<br>"Well, I guess when you've been burned once, it's just harder to trust." Reba said, looking down.  
>Narvel raised her chin up and looked at the redhead with compassion. "I would have to be the stupidest, most idiotic person in the world to look for, or look at anyone else. It will never happen."<br>To Reba's dismay, she found tears prickling her eyes. "I love you." She couldn't help but repeat.  
>They kissed again, more sweetly than passionately, but still it was a kiss filled with love, and a kiss that sent both their bodies tingling.<br>"I actually thought you were getting tired of me." Narvel admitted after. "I tried to take a step back so I wouldn't be all over you."  
>"That was you NOT being all over me?" Reba teased.<br>"Mhmm. You ain't seen nothin' yet." Narvel winked and kissed her again. Reba held onto him tightly, and hugged him close after they disconnected their lips.  
>"This has got to be the most perfect date in the history of forever." Reba murmured contentedly.<br>"I agree." Narvel said, resting his head on top of hers. They stood like that for a few moments before Reba asked,  
>"What time is it?"<br>Narvel checked his watch. "It's nearing 4:00."  
>"Oh my goodness." Reba looked up at Narvel in shock. "How did it get so late? It feels like we just got here an hour ago!"<br>"Well you know what they say about time flying when you're having fun." Narvel answered her, grinning.  
>Reba laughed and rested her head on his chest again. "Well I wish time would pass more slowly so we wouldn't have to leave so soon."<br>"Well, we could go get some ice cream. Does that make you want to leave?"  
>"Hmm," Reba answered, mocking thoughtfulness. "That does give me some motivation."<br>Narvel chuckled. "Well, come on then. Rocky Road is calling our name."  
>They packed up their things and Narvel rowed them back to the other side. When Reba got out of the boat she turned toward the water once again, trying to burn the memory of the lake and the entire day into her brain.<br>"We can come back, you know." Narvel said, wrapping an arm around her waist. "Anytime you want."  
>"I'd like that. A lot." Reba turned and smiled at Narvel. She gave him a gentle peck on the lips and then they laced their fingers together and walked to the SUV.<br>They went through the drive-thru at one of the nearby ice cream shops and sat in the car, eating their sweet treats.  
>"Jake said to tell you hi, and that he wants you to bring those video games you've been telling him about." Reba grinned at Narvel and then took another bite of her ice cream.<br>"Oh yes, I've been meaning to." Narvel nodded and spooned another mouthful of ice cream.  
>"Would you like to come home with us after church tomorrow?" Reba asked hopefully.<br>"I'd love to." Narvel answered with a smile.  
>"Good."<br>"So I've been thinking," Narvel started, a bit nervously. "I'd really like it if you would accompany me to visit my family sometime soon."  
>"Your family?" Reba echoed. "Well I'd love to! But," she bit her lip. "Would they like me?"<br>"Absolutely! There's nothing not to like about you." Narvel said sweetly.  
>Reba laughed. "There's that charm again."<br>"It's always on." Narvel winked. "So? How about it? I've been telling them everything about you."  
>"Awe," Reba smiled cutely at him. "Well I'd love to. Just name the date."<br>Narvel leaned across the seat. "Thank you, sweetheart." and he kissed her on the lips lovingly.  
>Reba put her hand on his shoulder and deepened their kiss.<br>"I love you." Narvel said again.  
>"And I'll never get tired of hearing it." Reba smiled slyly.<br>They kissed again, but then decided it was time to leave.  
>In Reba's driveway, they sat in the car, neither wanting to part from each other.<br>"I'd better go. It's already 5." Reba said sadly.  
>Narvel squeezed her hand. "I'll see you in the morning."<br>Reba nodded. "Text me?" she asked with a smile.  
>"Absolutely." he responded.<br>Reba placed her hand on his cheek and kissed him tenderly.  
>"I love you."<br>"I love you too, Red."


End file.
